


Diving Head First Into Flames

by azureskyy



Series: Everything Changes (Yet Everything's The Same) [1]
Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Canon Compliant, Family, Friendship, Self-Insert, more tags to come
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-02-18 14:04:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21778687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/azureskyy/pseuds/azureskyy
Summary: When you're fourteen and young, life isn't as dark and tiring as it is when you're a year older.That's how life is supposed to be.However, when you're fourteen— innocent, reckless, and a little naive— and you're thrown into a world where a child isn't supposed to be at, no matter how young and fragile you are, it wouldn't matter.Because at the end of the day, you're bearing a weight that's heavier and far more dangerous than what a normal person should be carrying, and there's nothing you could do about it.ORAU wherein OC is asked to join the Family, and things get more chaotic than it already had been in the original story.
Series: Everything Changes (Yet Everything's The Same) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1569553
Comments: 14
Kudos: 86
Collections: A Collection of Beloved Inserts, Favorite Self-Insert and OC-Centric Fanfics





	1. 1 — Intro

I'll start with the introductions. My name is Akane Miyuki, and I live in Namimori, Japan. I study in Namimori Middle and my grades are so-so; I've never failed but I'm not the smartest person in the batch either. And about my looks, I guess I'm somewhere in the middle of the rankings.

There are people who would disagree with me, and say that I'm way below average. That's because humans have their own standards. To be honest, the trueness of something depends on what side the person wants to classify as the "truth" (The validity of something depends on facts and proofs, but as people are persistent, they find flaws on the claim and go against other's opinions). Despite of that, there is an opinion of mine that I consider a fact, and I want to think that everyone who know at least a few of my traits will think the same as I do.

Well, even if they don't agree with me, it's not like I care about their opinions. This is my life, after all.

Anyway, putting aside my side comments, this is what I have concluded after gathering the pieces of information that I have so far:

I don't belong in this world.

As strange as that may sound, it's the truth. It's not like I'm sent from a parallel universe or something. It's just that I don't belong in this normal part of the world. There's no thrill, no plot twists, nor anything that spices up my life. All I have is a simple, unchanging, and boring day-to-day routine.

I seek for adventures— _for adrenaline rush_ —and for things that can make me excited about tomorrow. That, however, does not exist in my life. All I do is wake up, do whatever is needed for my schedule, then sleep. If I were to relate my life to math, my life would be like a horizontal line on a graph. 

A variable, however, changed that 'horizontal line'. His uniqueness and difference from the people around me caught my attention almost immediately. He's interesting, and he helps me forget about how dull this universe is. 

How Hibari Kyouya manages to be a constant yet, at the same time, a variable in my life, is amazing. It's a mystery I have yet to unravel, but one that I'm not sure will ever happen. After all, Hibari is stubborn and will make you move if you're on his path in a violent way. He's someone that I probably won't even be able to get the chance to talk to. So, unfortunately, the mystery will remain as a mystery. Still, it's nice to have something bothering me rather than the deafening emptiness that always fills my head. 

My trail of thoughts are cut off when someone trips and falls right at me, and I instinctively catch the person.

"Sorry— I tripped over my own foot—" He stammers over his words, and his face flushes. Embarrassed over his clumsy actions, he bows before running away. Students around me laugh at him, the words 'Loser Tsuna' coming out of their mouths.

I am aware of his existence.

 _Of course_ I am. After all, he's pretty famous not only for being clumsy, but also for being "stupid", as they say he is. I don't care much about rumors, but as he's the center of attention almost everyday, it makes sense that I at least know his name, nickname and face.

I let out a sigh before walking again, deciding to not let him in my thoughts any further. As soon as I'm out of the school gates, I look at the serene sky and watch the clouds slowly move from one point to another.

I randomly start to wonder. When will I experience the fun of friendships, the sadness in losing, and the happiness of victory?

Everyone's story had already begun, while mine is yet to be published. It's kept somewhere in the drafts, hidden away from other's eyes. I'm stuck in this prologue, and am a little envious because I know that I'm way too far from being completed.

 _(If I only knew that my story had already started the moment I stepped on the grounds of Namimori Middle..)_


	2. 2 — Mafia

I was waiting for a plot twist and an interesting screnario that can make me jump from the excitement.

This, however, is unexplainably bizarre, that even I don't want to be involved in whatever is going on. The sudden change in Tsunayoshi Sawada may be surprising, but this is much more than what I'm looking for. 

I have arrived at the conclusion that Namimori is indeed a weird place (because where else have you seen a guy carrying tonfas around, and a guy with flames on his forehead being observed by an infant?), and it makes me want to hide myself and scream that I have never lived here, and will not do so in a million years.

But right now, I'm more focused on looking away as I pretend that I am not in any way related to the half-naked (he at least has his boxers on, but that does not erase the fact that he ripped his uniform off himself in _public_ ) boy running like a madman. He's screaming something in between the lines of 'kyoko' and 'dying will' but I'm not really listening.

"And he's in my class, too." I mutter, embarrassed in his stead. I'm only hoping that he actually has extra clothes on hand or in the lockers, because I would rather have my face hit by Hibari's tonfa than sit in class with a shirtless guy near me. 

The walk to Namimori Middle is peaceful after that, as Tsunayoshi ran in such a fast pace and reached the school in no time. On the other hand, I took my time in admiring how the sun forms rays while its light disperses over the area it covers. Light amazes me as it has different properties depending on its use. Light could be heat, colors, or simply light itself. It's just like how a person has different personalities depending on their environment.

I, for one, am from a house of loneliness. With parents that deeply care for my younger sister and did not treat me the same, I have managed to survive alone.

I did try to gain their attention; I did well in school and tried to be a perfect child. Well, let's just say that there was no need for my efforts because they soon left for France with my sister.

The day they left was when _it_ first appeared. As soon as I saw it, I immediately knew that I didn't belong in this world and that scared me.

Because if I didn't belong here, then where am I supposed to be? And also, was there at least one person who's like me? Or will I continue to be the lone wolf that I had always been?

I push the thoughts away, continuing with my routine for the rest of the day.

* * *

I thought Sawada's show yesterday was too much. But with what's happening right now, I'd say things have taken an interesting turn.

If we don't mind the fact that Sawada tore his uniform off himself once again, his fight against the transferee student is quite interesting. 

He's extinguishing the fire of the explosives with his bare hands and, as if that wasn't shocking enough, he's doing it with such great speed.

The infant is there again, observing strictly. I decided to watch beside him, wanting to see the fight close up.

" _Ciaossu_ ," The baby says, and it's really weird because I have a feeling that he's more than his appearance and that I shouldn't let one's cover fool me, but no matter how I look at it, he's... a baby.

"Having fun?" I ask, turning to the two boys. The transferee student, Hayato Gokudera, is throwing his explosives all over the place but Sawada is unfazed by the number and continues with extinguishing the fires.

"I guess," He says, listing something in his small notebook. "what can you say about them?"

"It's an entertaining, one-of-a-kind show," I phrase the word 'weird' properly, and the baby smirks.

"I'm Reborn, Tsuna's tutor and the world's strongest hitman." He introduces with a smile. I return the smile, finally looking at him.

"Like mafias, then?" I ask, and although he looks unbothered by my words, his eyes contain a certain sharpness to it. He nods, and I believe him. Because are the explosives and the flame on Sawada's forehead not enough proof?

I pause at that.

Flame?

"..you are indeed worthy of being the next tenth generation boss," Gokudera is now on his knees bowing to Sawada. "Boss, I will follow you to the ends of the Earth."

"So, Akane. If this is something that you can classify as 'not boring', are you interested in joining the Family?" Reborn asks.

The conversation of the two continues, while Reborn is staring at me. I slowly back away, for reasons that even I cannot determine. But my head is spinning and my mind is telling me to **run before it overwhelms you** and somehow, that makes perfect sense.

And I do just that. I run away, relief and fear mixing together and I'm no longer sure which is dominant. 

There's warmth spreading in my heart and the feeling is foreign. I am used to being alone, but the universe is giving me a chance to experience having a Family. But I'm also afraid because what if this is all a dream? Or what if that's not where I belong? 

There's a voice in the back of my mind telling me to stop running and have faith, because this isn't a dream, and that they're the ones I've been looking for. It takes everything in me to trust those words and return to the three. When I arrive, they're still there but they seem serious. Their words are inaudible, and as soon as I get closer it comes to a halt. 

"There you are," Reborn greets, jumping to my shoulder. "my offer still stands."

"Reborn!" Sawada complains, "She doesn't even know what's going on here, at least explain!"

"About this family," My voice slightly trembles, but I put up a facade that this isn't that much of a big deal to me. "What do you mean?"

"Why don't we talk about this on our way to dame-Tsuna's house instead? Then, you can think about my invitation there," Reborn suggests, and this makes Sawada protest. He goes on about how Reborn has sudden authority over his house and life, to which Reborn hits him with a green mallet and that shuts the brown-haired boy's mouth.

"If that's alright," I mutter, and Reborn sits on my shoulder.

"Well, what are we waiting for, then? Lead the way, Tsuna." 

At first, the walk to Sawada's house is full of noise, but it soon turned to a calm conversation about Sawada's deathperation flames and Vongola.

"So the boss have guardians, and they all have their roles, right?" I summarize, "There's the sky, sun, cloud, rain, storm, lightning and mist guardians."

As the words leave my lips, my heart drops at the realization that I'm not one of those. If one's flame corresponds to the guardian's role, then there's no place for me there. Mine is like the sky; it gives colors and engulfs everything. However, despite its similarity, mine is much more than that. The whole universe is affected by my flame, and that is something I'm sure of. 

But since I don't possess much knowledge about "Deathperation Flames", I couldn't really talk about it. I'm not even sure if I'm mistaking it for another type of flame, and I just brushed it off thinking that it's not much of a big deal, and that Reborn has already checked my abilities. _(A major mistake in my part)_

"Exactly." Gokudera says, "But Reborn, what type of guardian is she if she's joining the Family?"

"I never said she'll be a guardian. The Vongola family has different types of jobs." Reborn says and I nod my head. After all, can a mafia organization function with just seven heads working together? 

"That's better for me, I'm not confident in being one of the 7 guardians." I confessed, smiling sheepishly. Taking care of the rings isn't exactly what I had in mind when I thought of joining the Family.

"Ah, we're here!" Sawada says, opening the door. He lets us in, and I thank him. We are greeted by his mother, and she tells us that dinner is still being cooked. She suggests that we wait for it at Sawada's room, and she tells us that we should make ourselves feel at home. 

"So, Akane, are you going to join?" Reborn questions me as he drops down from my shoulders and onto the floor.

I was sure that I was going to join, but his question gave me an opportunity to actually think about the situation I'm in.

Are they interesting? Yes. Possibly the most interesting bunch of people I have met in my life. Sawada's actions were unusual at first, but after learning about the nature of his Flame, it didn't matter much anymore. And although Gokudera is a walking human bomb, his explosives aren't exactly life-risking when it comes to people like us. There's Reborn, the baby tutor, who is the world's strongest hitman as well. 

Then there's me, who has flames too. And although I can't completely understand my ability yet, I believe that if I fight alongside them I'll learn more about _this_ part of the world. And I may not perfectly fit in their Family, but at least I belong.

I won't lose anything, so why not accept the offer? 

"Sure," I reply, not being able to hide the excitement that my voice contains, "as long as you're willing to have me."

"Are you sure? I didn't really want to involve anyone— Reborn! It hurts! It hurts! Time out!" Reborn has once again hit Tsuna with the mallet because of his "lame" words. Another excuse to his action is that, "You're not making any sense. A boss must have subordinates, Dame-Tsuna.". The fight doesn't stop at that.

I laugh at their banters, but glares at Gokudera when he notices that I'm staying out of the fight and teases me (he doesn't try after that). Once the noise ends, we all end up laughing at our childishness and I can feel their genuine happiness from here.

Everything is still confusing and time is running too fast. My life is changing drastically and it's all so complicated, but at least there's one thing that I'm sure of.

I'm no longer alone.

And, for once, I'm actually happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to let everyone know, chapters 1 and 2 are the only short ones, with around 500 - 1.5k words. The remaining chapters will contain at least 3k words.


	3. 3

Sawada Tsunayoshi is the Vongola Decimo, or our _sky_. It's natural for him to attract people, especially those involved in mafia.

It, however, does not explain why Yamamoto Takeshi is eating lunch with us (take note that he simply introduced himself, sat down beside us, and started the ongoing conversation) out of nowhere. But I'm not complaining either. After all, Yamamoto seems nice—except for the fact that there's sharpness hiding behind his outgoing personality that somehow reminds me of a _certain hitman_ —and he brings no harm to us.

It's just puzzling, that's all. An addition to my confusion is that as soon as heard the words 'mafia' and 'boss', he started talking about how the mafia game we're playing sounds exciting and that he wants to join in the fun. 

Why he's pretending that this is all a game when he knows we're serious is beyond me.

Anyway, Yamamoto is amazing and I'm grateful that I have the chance to be friends with him. (In other words, his genuine kindness and passion for baseball intrigues me and I'm thrilled with the idea of him entering our Family.)

"You've gained three family members, Tsuna." Reborn comments, an innocent smile plastered on his face. The mentioned boy opens his mouth in protest, but I immediately shove the marshmallows I brought with me into his mouth before saying, "Now say, 'chubby bunny'."

Yamamoto laughs, and right after that Reborn chuckles. Gokudera scolds me as he gives a bottled water to our sky, and I just shrug.

"It's not my fault that hearing Sawada's 'I don't want to be a mafia boss' statement exhausts me," I defend my side, while Sawada drinks the water Gokudera gave him.

"You still call me Sawada? Why not Tsuna?" He asks, letting the marshmallow meal go. Probably because it tastes good. Also— wait, did he just let me refer to him by his first name?

"Right, you can call me Takeshi, too!" Yamamoto chirps in with a grin. I blink multiple times as a response. Them allowing me to call them by their first name takes me by surprise, so I'm a bit.. speechless.

"..Hayato," Gokudera tells me, looking away. I smile at how we've all gotten close in a matter of weeks—or in Yamamoto's case, minutes— and nod my head. It's not that hard for me to adjust but they better not be irritated with me accidentally saying their last names because I can't change in a span of five seconds. 

Also, they all call me Akane already so there's no need for me to do the same as they did.

"You can call me Reborn instead," Reborn adds, making me laugh. Tsuna, however, is not impressed and he exclaims, _"as if there's something else we can call you!"_.

I sometimes refer to Reborn as baby or little boy, but I won't tell anyone that.

Or rather, Reborn would say it in my stead. "The brat calls me little boy."

A disadvantage to not knowing Reborn that much is you don't know if you're supposed to take his words as an insult or laugh it off. But the way he's smiling makes me assume that the statement was only used to prove Tsuna wrong, and not because he's offended by the nickname I gave him.

The peaceful conversation that we are having is abruptly stopped when the rooftop door suddenly opens with a loud BANG, and men in black enters our temporary territory. 

_Seriously?_ Of all the existing types of clothes to choose from, was it really necessary for them to wear the 'I'm a mafia member' starter clothes? The suit, sunglass, black shoes, and earpiece— it's the cliché type of mafia wear that has me cringing. They look like the ones from the movies, yes, but I expected more. 

Regardless of my previous statements, I have to admit that even though they look like they're low-ranked men, they're still well-trained (hopefully, because I'd seriously be disappointed if that is not the case) and their strength is in numbers. In fact, each one of us- including Reborn- would have to defeat at least a dozen of them to win. Also, the way they stand is intimidating. But who knows if all they practiced for was to appear like a big threat, and nothing more than that?

"Boss, stand back," Hayato says, taking his explosives and lighting them up. Tsuna, however, stops him.

"There are still students in here, we can't involve them!" And Tsuna is right. Even though Hayato's small explosives won't put lives at risk, I didn't say that they can't destroy the walls when used at once.

On the other hand, Takeshi is pained by the fact that his bat is nowhere around him, but proceeds to stand in a fighting stance.

'Okay, your turn Akane. Calm down and think about this carefully.' I think, assessing the situation.

Reborn will, obviously, not join in the fight because he's going to use this as a test. But we have Tsuna with his dying will flame, as well as Hayato and Takeshi whom are amazing fighters. Then there's me who has never used my power against anyone before. So, using my super amazing flames is not an option because it might end up as either an entertaining background while the group fights or the cause of the school's destruction.

To summarize that all, there's nothing for me to do because I don't even have full control of my ability yet.

"I'll stand back too." I inform them, taking a step towards the railings. In reality, my actual aim is to find Hibari and tell him that herbivores have reach his precious school's rooftop, hence he should beat them up. There's too many of them for my three newfound friends to take and I don't want them to die on me before we even get to exchange contact numbers. Therefore, I've concluded that we need a helping hand. And even if we take into account that their ranks are quite low, we still shouldn't underestimate them.

The men starts to advance.

"Stop! Who are you?" Reborn asks. Mafias are weird because one second they want to kill you, and the next they follow your words. All of them are truly unusual- I was not mistaken when I found Tsuna weird.

"We're men from the Vongola family and we've come to test the candidate for the tenth generation boss." Who do they think they're fooling?

Clearly the three fools in front of me. They lower their guards at once, and the enemies had to control themselves to hide their laughter at that. I can't blame them; I myself am baffled at how easily they believed the enemy's words. I grit my teeth, stopping myself from borrowing Reborn's mallet and hitting them. I'm only hoping that Reborn tutors them later once we get home and increase its difficulty level by three. 

Pushing all that aside, I continue my hunt for the most dangerous man on this school, but it's not as easy as it sounds. Given that Hibari combs through every inch of the school for preys around this time, the guy could be anywhere. 

The same does not apply to the vice chairman of the disciplinary committee.

Remembering thay Kusakabe is Hibari's subordinate, and that he's usually given the task of guarding the entrance of the school, I yell for Kusakabe at once. 

"Kusakabe! There are people here who's disrupting the peace of Namimori! Send Hibari here!" I yell as loudly as I can. Kusakabe looks around for my voice and, finally noticing that I'm on the rooftop, runs as fast as he can into the building and to wherever Hibari is. It alerts the men because they didn't expect us to have a backup.

Maybe letting them know that I'm calling for reinforcement isn't the best move, but it's not like Kusakabe and I can telepathically communicate with one another.

"We can handle this without him." Hayato tells me and scoffs, but I don't explain any further. Not that I had a chance to, because the men starts the fight.

Leon transforms into a gun at once and Reborn shoots Tsuna, whom screams on top of his lungs and tackles the men. Hayato and Takeshi are on the left and right ends of the roof respectively, and from here I can see that their fighting skills are no joke. Reborn subsequently points his gun towards me, and I was nervous because the thought that they still see me as a threat scares me. However, when Reborn fires the gun and I hear a man's groan behind me, the fear I had dissipates at once. 

"She's not in the game," He says, and I mutter a 'thank you'. We then turn our attention back to the three boys who are now cornered. Tsuna lost his dying will flame and is now being pushed into the edge. Hayato sees our sky's situation and is now trying to clear the path to him. But since he's distracted, the ones behind him managed to lock his arms and he's struggling against them. Meanwhile, Takeshi is focused but there's only so much he can do without training. He has been, after all, with us for only a couple of minutes. Fortunately, Hibari chose to appear right at this moment. And I'm not going to say that he took his sweet time in getting here because the door is fully open and I can see bodies on the floor. I'm not going to ask him how many men he took out within five minutes either because, well, do I really want to know?

"Herbivores, you are crowding and attacking the students of Namimori. Unforgivable." Hibari's eyes have now turned cold and his fighting stance is flawless. We're lucky he's on our side.. right now. We'll soon be running away from him once this ends because he'll want to beat us up for crowding but I'll worry about that later.

Oh. I guess I have to worry about it now, because Hibari doesn't even see this as a challenge and has now reduced their numbers into half. Hayato and Takeshi are back into the game, but the enemy has taken Tsuna as a hostage.

"Stop, or I'll kill him!"

I smirk. The Vongola Famiglia would never put a boss candidate at such risk; the enemies exposed themselves (we already knew but regarding the three..). And although they're threatening us, Hibari is not in our Family and does not care about the well-being of our sky. Thus, their efforts are futile.

Hibari does not stop fighting. By this time, the enemy realizes that his threats have no effect. Consequently, he escapes and runs down. Hibari's keen eyes follow his figure.

"Take your time, he can't escape." I tell him, mixing a large amount of soap to the bucket of water that's here on the rooftop. Once it's bubbling, I throw it down and make sure that it covers the tiled floor by the entrance door of Namimori Middle. I fill the bucket again with a little water and I wait. A few second passes by and then there he is, running and— he slips. Afterwards, I accurately throw the bucket down, and it collides with his knees. He tries to stand up, but the ground is slippery and his feet are injured so he can't.

"Not bad." The baby tells me, giving the fallen enemy below us a glance. I grin, quite proud of myself. I also find it funny that I could take someone down without tiring myself. I mentally take note of that for future battles.

"You're late for class. Unless you want to get bitten to death like these men, run away now." Hibari says, raising his tonfas. Tsuna backs away at once, and the rest follow them. Even the little boy follows, hopping on Takeshi's shoulder.

Once they're out of sight, I take a step closer to Hibari and beam at him.

"Thank you. If you didn't help us, who knows what would have happened to the three." I thank him, slightly bowing before walking towards the rooftop's door. The moment I reach out to hold the knob, Hibari replies.

"It's my duty to ensure the safety of everyone in Namimori."

Hibari really is a constant variable. 

I smile at that and, right after that, I head back to my class.

* * *

"Dame-Tsuna, and his two subordinates!" Reborn's mallet hits the three's head and they yelp in pain. I blankly stare at them, yawning. 

"Why is Akane saved from this and not us?" Gokudera complains, getting another hit from Reborn.

"Because Akane used her brain. Very different from you who just jumped into the fight without taking the enemy's strength in consideration." I watch from the sidelines, grinning at what was happening in front of me. "Tsuna still has more training to go, and Yamamoto was easily fooled by the enemy's words."

I actually wanted to tease them and say 'Exactly,' but I hesitate. Instead, I continue observing them as Reborn finally decides to tutor them.

By that I mean he orders them to run 10 laps around Namimori, then as soon as they finish that they'll have to answer Reborn's Math quiz which, by the way, is about Calculus. Gokudera finds the question easy until they hear a clock ticking and their seats explode. Who would have guessed that each question has a time limit of ten seconds? Reborn and I are protected for reasons that even I don't know, but the trio are burnt (Not literally, because that would be bad). The quiz continues until the room can no longer be identified as one, and that stops Reborn. After all, he doesn't want to make Tsuna's mom panic.

The chaos has ended and the tutoring session for today is over. The explosions from earlier, however, gained the attention of another.. err.. hitman. I see a machine gun pointed at us, and a kid is the one holding it.

Though I love kids, I'm still not used to having many people around me. The total number of people I can talk to per day has reached its limit already. I point at the kid outside, whom falls down the tree.

No one saw him except for me, so I just let it be.

"Sawada, can I go home now? It's late." I ask, pretending to be worried about curfews and all. Not like I have a family that will worry about me if I get home too late, but that's a story that shouldn't be revealed yet. 

"There you go with the last name again," He frowns, and I shrug, saying that I'll try better tomorrow, "And yes, of course. But are you sure you want to walk alone at this hour?"

"The Great Lambo is—" Reborn pushes him aside and the baby collides with the wall. _Ruthless,_ but definitely a Reborn move.

"Yamamoto, you should send her home." 

"No, it's okay. Go on with your tutoring. Besides, I had too much social interactions for today, I need my alone time." Reborn is silent at first, and I wonder if I should just have followed his orders. 

If he finds me irritating, he can kick me out of this Family with just a glance. And yet here I am, pushing him aside.

I feel like I made a wrong move, especially since I'm getting attached to them. If they remove me, I'll be a bit sad.

"Just be careful," Reborn says, shooing me out. I sigh in relief, taking my bag. I leave Tsuna's house, walking towards mine.

Before I enter the gates, I stare at the big, dark "home" in front of me. There's something clenching around my heart, but I don't know what this feeling is. 

I shouldn't think that they'll do the same to me, but there's this fear that they will.

_**One day they'll forget about you, and just like how you were before you met them, you'll be alone.** _

Those words hurt and control me. 

_'Don't let them see your true self. Conceal your past.'_

But the stars are shining brightly, and the moon is smiling at me. These light something in me and these also tell me that I can trust them. Maybe not fully, but even a small percentage of it will do. Plus, they've been nothing but sweet and kind, so I think they deserve a chance.

 _'Please stay,'_ I plead, _'please don't push me away, now that I've decided to try and open my heart a little.'_

It will take me time to actually trust them the way the two trusts Tsuna, but I hope that someday, that day will come. For now, I'll go with the flow and believe in fate. 

_It will work._

Somehow. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By now you might have noticed that the way of introducing the characters is not the same as it is in the canon. I've kind of jumbled up the order in a way that I liked, so please excuse me for that.

There's a purple smoke coming out of the purple food that Tsuna's mother cooked for us, and I don't believe that it is edible. And even if it is, I would do anything to avoid eating it.

"Are purple dishes normal in this household?" I ask, although I highly doubt that the answer would be a yes. Tsuna yelps at the sight, obviously disgusted at the dish that is currently melting the plate.

"I don't know, why don't you give it a try?" Reborn tests, making me furrow my brows. It's now burning a hole through the table, and I quickly take a step back before it falls onto my shoes.

"..I guess not." I say, worriedly glancing at Tsuna who has jumped far from the table the moment he sees it destroying everything it touches. Reborn's calmness as he finishes his meal allows me to think that this isn't that big of a threat, then again if we were to face dangerous enemies he'd probably still be calm as he's confident that he could defeat them without putting much effort.

He's the world's number one hitman, after all.

"Leave it be," Reborn tells us before putting down his utensils. He then hops onto the table and onto Tsuna's shoulders. "She'll show herself when she feels like it."

" _Leave it be_?" Tsuna shrieks, "How do I even explain this to mama? This could have killed us!"

"But you're alive and well now, aren't you?" Tsuna lets out a sigh, staring at the destroyed table in front of him. Mafia life is terrifying, and we're only at the surface right now. What more life-threatening situations will we experience as we swim deeper into it?

I don't even want to think about it.

"Tsu-kun, you'll be late! You have to go—huh? What happened to the table?" Tsuna's mother walks in and stops. I instinctively raise my hand like it's a class recitation and blabber whatever words appear in my crazy mind and hope that it can be used as an excuse.

Surprisingly she nods at every word I say, talking about how fire is dangerous and that she's glad none of us got hurt. If you look carefully you'd see a question mark above my head, because I am very confused at how carefree Tsuna's mother is.

Why is everyone so strange? Just a few weeks back everyone was so similar that it made me so bored, but now everyone is so different that it feels like I'm in another universe.

Right. This is the underworld— the mafia part of this world. Everything is odd because I've lived in the sane area for too long, rather than this crazy one where I actually belong.

"Ah! We're late! Hibari-san will surely bite us to death, let's go!" Tsuna exclaims, taking his bag. He bids goodbye to his mother and so do I, then we both run to Namimori Middle. And as if he expected us to run late, Hibari is leaning by the gates. We are at the receiving end of his deadly glare, and that is not a good thing at all. With foolish bravery suddenly running through my veins I run pass him, gesturing Tsuna to do the same. I hear Hibari mutter 'herbivores', but I grab onto Tsuna's hand and sprint to our room before he can even brandish his weapon at us. 

"He will come for us later," Tsuna says, and I frown. Of course he will; Hibari will not let us go just like that when we violated the school rules and ran away from him.

"We'll cross the bridge when we get there," I whisper, opening the door of our class.

For now, let's focus on our studies while we still can.

* * *

The school courtyard is usually peaceful around this time, with students in their respective rooms eating their lunch. 

Right now, the courtyard is definitely not in its usual state, and I can list six reasons why:

1\. Hibari Kyouya is chasing us.  
2\. The Poison Scorpion, Bianchi, has shown herself and wishes to eliminate us.  
3\. Lambo Bovino has joined in the fun and is holding weapons of all kinds.  
4\. Hayato, at the sight of Bianchi (who turned out to be his sister), has collapsed and is unable to help us.  
5\. Reborn is missing, so Tsuna can't be in his dying will mode.  
6\. They're closing in on us, and only Yamamoto is willing to fight. 

"Last words?" Bianchi asks, and I try my best to glare at her. 

"I will haunt you in the worst way possible if you dare continue with your plan." I threaten, before hiding behind Yamamoto like a puppy. Sounds convincing, right? 

Hibari suddenly turns to the other two, eyeing them suspiciously.

"Those who aren't students of Namimori Middle are not allowed in here. You are violating school rules,"

"Lambo-sama is so great that he doesn't need to be a student here! I do not follow—" He doesn't get to continue, because a second later into his speech he is sent flying to the other side of the courtyard by a tonfa. 

And he cries.

"I, Lambo, the Bovino famiglia's five-year-old hitman was hit! I, Lambo, who loves to eat grapes and candies!"

Although I've been ignoring him for a while now, tears make me weak. My heart softening at the sight of his tears, I immediately walk to him and hold him in my arms. I glance at Bianchi and seeing that she's fighting Hibari, I focus on Lambo.

"Hey, Lambo, want me to sing you a song?" I coo, smiling gently at him. His sobs ceases, and he turns to look at me. He then nods at me expectantly. There's a song that I loved singing for my sister, but I'm a bit hesitant to sing that. I'm not sure if I can stop myself from crying, but it's not like I can think of another song within the time limit (Lambo's going to cry soon again, I can feel it.), so it's my only option right now. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, then I let the song flow from my lips smoothly. I open my eyes soon after, watching Lambo slowly close his eyes. I haven't even reach the second verse but he's already sleeping. 

Just like her.

_"Nee-chan, sing me that song!" Saeko calls, just as I was leaving._

_"Again? Aren't you tired of listening to it over and over again?" I ask her, sitting on the bed._

_"Your voice is so enchanting, especially in that song. I'd love to hear you sing another one, but these days I really love that," She tells me._

_She looks at me like I hung the moon and stars; she sees my brightest side and never the darkest one._

_She's really important to me._

_I grin at her, finally agreeing. I then start singing, and soon she closes her eyes and fall asleep._

_"Sleep well," I whisper, before covering her properly with the blanket._

Tears have fallen from my eyes without my consent, and I wipe it away as soon as I noticed it. (I think from now on, I'll be the one taking care of Lambo. Not because he's like my sister, but because I feel like the job is for me). I then turn to the others, only to find out that no battle has occurred and that they were all listening to me. My face flushes in embarrassment. I may take pride in the quality of my singing voice, but to be heard by so many people isn't something that I expected.

Bianchi smiles at me and says, "I'll no longer fight you, but only because your voice is so enchanting that I don't want it damaged."

I bite my lower lip, remembering my sister's words. Enchanting. She used to say the same about my voice, and that never failed to make me smile.

"Thank you," I honestly tell her, "that means a lot to me."

Breaking the moment, Hibari suddenly turns to leave. I hear him say "crowds", so I'm guessing that he meant that we were crowding and that he doesn't want to be a part of us.

As usual.

"Ciaossu, Bianchi." Reborn says, appearing out of nowhere. He kicks Tsuna, stepping on his head as he greets Bianchi.

"Reborn!" She greets back, blushing. She reaches out and carries him, then she hugs the little baby. 

Takeshi goes on about Bianchi being Reborn's friend, and that we didn't need to worry after all. He brushes our previous probem off as if Bianchi didn't try to poison us all just a few seconds ago. Tsuna sighs, giving up on everything.

"Bianchi came here for me. And also, she is my woman," Reborn informs us, to which Tsuna retorts with, "Do you even know what that means?!"

Spoiler alert: he gets ignored.

Moving on, the group decides to eat dinner at Tsuna's house, because suddenly everyone is a part of the Sawada family (not like Sawada-san will get mad, anyway).

It all ends with the ten-year-older Lambo running away from Bianchi, Tsuna complaining as the Family makes a mess, and Reborn smirking as he watches everything from his seat.

And for some reasons, all those are normal.

* * *

The next day is only a little less crazy than the previous one. Tsuna forgot his promise to Kyoko and Hana, so Reborn shot him with the deathperation bullet so that he will reach the school in time. 

"Reborn! I'll run as fast as I can to the school even if I die!" I remember him shouting, before he runs off. We follow soon after, which brings us to our current situation.

"Join us, Sawada Tsuna! Your passion is extreme, like mine!" With a loud voice, a man tells Tsuna. Our sky is looking at us helplessly, asking us to get him out of here. With no intention of helping him, I stand beside Takeshi who's grinning happily.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Hayato angrily asks, pointing at the boxing club leader. Takeshi laughs, holding him back from attacking Ryohei (I know him becaue he's famous for his unmatchable punches. And passion for it.).

"Now, now, isn't that interesting, Tsuna? Boxing seems fun!" Takeshi says. I nod in agreement, finding the idea nice. I don't know about other sports, but boxing is helpful especially when hand-to-hand combat is required. As a mafia boss, Tsuna definitely needs it. 

"Are you all serious..? No, I don't want to!" Tsuna firmly tells the guy, rejecting his offer. While that's happening, a figure walks from behind him and taps his shoulder. He jumps, surprised, only to find Kyoko smiling at him brightly.

"K-kyoko-chan?"

Kyoko doesn't say anything, just continues to give Ryohei a look that screams out the word 'seriously?' as she hands him a bag.

She heaves a sigh, frowning. "Tsuna-kun, don't listen to him. He's always like that," She tells him softly, a warm smile replacing her frown. Reborn jumps on my shoulder, observing their interactions with a smirk. He pulls down his fedora to cover his eyes, and I bet he's planning on making the Sasagawa siblings a part of the Family.

"I'm all up for your plan, although I can only guess the general idea of it." He looks up at me with curiosity and I tease, "What? I can read minds, you know."

"Looks like my personality is wiping off on you. I like that," He replies, smirk not fading. I chuckle at his words, but then I notice someone spying on us. Well, spying on Kyoko, to be more specific. He's not even properly hiding himself, and I scoff in disbelief.

I throw my bag accurately at him, annoyed. He yelps in pain, running away. Rolling my eyes, I tell myself that I'll take revenge on him, somehow. Having a stalker is something a person would never want to have. It's more than creepy, and it also violates our privacy.

"Thank you, Akane-chan. I've been bothered by it for a while now," She says, smiling half-heartedly. This shows that she was honestly creeped out but was trying her best to hide it.

That Kensuke Mochida, seriously..

"If he continues to be like that, tell me as soon as you can." I tell her, "Us girls should protect each other, you know?"

"And as men, it's your duty to make sure no harm is brought upon them," Reborn hops on the top of my head, "although they're capable of defending themselves."

The guys nod at that, and Ryohei yells a 'yeah' in agreement. I can only shake my head in amusement, wondering what exactly it is that draws me to them. I'm with a bunch of weirdos and yet I don't even mind it.

' _I've changed,_ ' I think, smiling in contentment.

"Sawada! Meet me at the boxing club room after class, I'll be waiting!" He yells, before running into the school. Tsuna shrieks, then tries to think of ways to refuse Ryohei's offer. It doesn't last, though. Because soon after Kyoko taps his shoulder, eyes not leaving her brother's shining figure.

"Ah, it's been a long time since I've seen him this happy. Thank you, Tsuna-kun!" Kyoko thanks him, smiling sweetly. Tsuna returns the smile and silently grimaces at that, having a harder time in coming up with a plan to refuse Ryohei. 

He doesn't want to disappoint his crush, after all.

* * *

I head to the boxing club room, not wanting to miss out on the fight between Ryohei and Tsuna. I'm more than sure that Tsuna will lose without his dying will flame, but since he wouldn't want to hurt Kyoko's brother I don't think he'd want to be shot.

How, then, will he defeat Ryohei? That question has been lingering in my mind since we met that passionate guy, but I didn't get the chance to ask Tsuna about it because a while back at our lunch time, Mochida challenges Tsuna to a duel— Kendo, at that. Mochida is the Kendo club leader, so the challenge is completely unfair. But our boss won anyway, so it doesn't really much anymore.

How he won was really funny. He pulled out all the stalker's hairs until the referree raised the red card. I had a lot of fun laughing at him.

It may have been quite the experience for him, but for creeping out Kyoko like that, I'd say it was a well-deserved punishment.

But while Mochida had a reason to be in such an embarrassing situation, I don't know what I did to deserve _this_ kind of treatment.

Hibari appears out of nowhere and tries to attack me with his weapon but I evade it swiftly, trying to buy myself some time as I search for an opening. 

He tries to hit my stomach using his right tonfa but I swing my bag to block it. I then take a sidestep as quickly as I can so that I'm right beside him and before he can even turn to face me, I kick the back of his knees. His legs weaken and he holds onto the wall for support, but I elbow his shoulder causing him to stumble forward. 

It's not really a shock when in just a second he turns and stands as if nothing happened because this is Hibari that I'm fighting, and I expected no less from the leader of Namimori's Disciplinary Committee.

"Wao," He smiles, and I see amusement in his eyes, "How strange, when you were cornered at the rooftop you didn't fight, so I thought that you're a weak herbivore but.."

"Yeah, I haven't been involving myself in battles," I confirm his thoughts, "not because I can't fight. I'm actually quite good at it, but they'll ask how I learned it."

He doesn't press for more details, but instead attacks me with his tonfas again. This time, he's not holding himself back.

I think he didn't catch the 'quite good' part of my sentence, and I'm not happy with that. This is a losing battle; I'm no match for Hibari, and I know that.

I try anyway, using a different technique. I'm now trying to defend and at the same time hit him, which is not going well. His left tonfa hits my rib, and I flinch. 

I hold his shoulders and do a front flip. Once I'm behind him I kick his legs, trying to slow down his movements. He faces me immediately and runs towards me, hitting my right hip. I lose more than half of my strength due to its impact, but with my remaining energy I punch his stomach, and we both jump backwards to regain our composure.

"There's a fight I really want to witness," I inform him, "and I don't want to miss out."

"Then let's finish this and you go there." He says, and he charges towards me. He's rushing to defeat me, but I guess I'll have to take my time.

I continue blocking his attacks, waiting for him to notice. He'll realize it soon, I made sure of that. I didn't target his legs for nothing.

And it finally hits him.

He stops chasing after me, not because he wanted to but because the chains are stopping him from doing so. I don't waste another second and I bolt out of the area.

To explain the chains, while I was avoiding his attacks, I quickly hooked the end of the chain at one of the window's metals, then I went around him a lot of times so that I can bind him with it. He didn't notice immediately because I kept on targeting his legs, making him think that my attacks just left a dull pain and nothing more than that.

Knowing Hibari, he'll destroy it in no time and that's why I ran out of there the moment it stopped him. If I stayed there to explain how I did that trick, I would have been bitten to death by now.

Finally reaching the boxing club room, I slide the door open and enter. Fortunately, the match is still going on and it looks like I got here right at the most exciting part. 

Reborn shoots Ryohei with the deathperation bullet, and does the same to Tsuna.

I take the seat at the corner of the room, closing my eyes at the sharp pain. The pain is overwhelming, but I can somewhat lessen it if I don't move a centimeter. So, I stick to watching them fight from this distance, cheering the moment Tsuna knocks Ryohei out of the ring. That's when Reborn sees me, and he goes to my side.

"What are you doing there?" He asks, raising a brow at me. I don't even want to answer because everything _hurts_ , but I don't want to appear weak.

"I find this spot the best to watch," I say as an excuse, although the truth is that _my body hurts so much and by being at this exact spot, I can relax and lean on my back and left side_ but of course I'm not going to tell him that.

He knows that I'm lying and he's wondering why, but I'm stubborn and I won't let him in the secret. 

"Let's settle this!" I hear Ryohei say, but then Hana enters the room in a panic.

"Kyoko is being targeted by the Karate Club!"

That irks me. Why are men putting Kyoko in trouble? The poor girl has just gone through a problem with a stalker and now—

I say this but I can't fight, anyway.

_Hibari, remember this day. I'll take my revenge and you'll regret that you broke my bones. Keep your eyes open during the night, I'm warning you._

But right now, there's nothing I can do against him. Not being able to do anything annoys me so much that it might even overpower the pain I'm feeling right now. How irritating.

"Oh, everyone's here!" Kyoko cheerfully says, and her arrival makes everyone relieved. However, the relief is short-lived because not long after, the Karate Club arrives and their leader reaches out to hold Kyoko's hand.

Oh no, you don't.

I push myself up and punch his jaw, then I kick him out of the room and pull Kyoko to Hana. My actions causes me to drop to the ground, unable to move.

Hibari Kyoya, I _swear_ I'll get you one day.

Takeshi and Hayato are by my side at once, protecting me from the Karate Club members. I tell myself that I'll treat them lunch after this to thank them, or buy them a gift. 

"We'll talk about this later," Takeshi says seriously, giving me a glance, "rest for now. And also, someone call an ambulance."

I can't even reply because the pain hits me again and I double over, groaning. I'm feeling lightheaded and I'm blaming myself for not taking my training seriously. If only I trained properly over the years, this wouldn't have happened. 

"You're bruised all over," I hear Bianchi say, and the next moment a soft object touches me and it stings. I open one eye (I didn't even notice that I closed it) and look at what that thing is, only to see a cotton. 

How can a cotton deal this much damage to me?

"The real question is, how could you be this injured and yet fail to inform even one of us while you still could?" Reborn asks, frowning at my stupidity. I don't even try to retort because I am pretty dumb for prioritizing the thought of not wanting them to see me weak rather than my own physical health. Well, you regret your actions after you have done it so..

Black spots are covering my sights. The pain is going away and I can't tell if that's a good thing or not.

"..Akane? Brat, don't sleep! I still have questions."

My eyelids are starting to get heavy and although the pain is gone, my body feels heavier than ever and I'm tired.

Sleep sounds nice.

And then someone slaps me. Hard.

"Ouch— what was that for?!" I exclaim, and once again pain appears and the slap's ache adds to that.

Reborn is glaring at me, and it's not too long before I realize that he's the one who slapped me. 

"I'll need to train you harder." Reborn mutters, taking out a notepad and jotting some words down. "Anyway, what happened to you?" 

"You wake me up for _that_?" I groan, "I fell from the top of the stairs. Now let me sleep,"

"Lies, Dame-Tsuna falls every time but there's not a single scratch on him."

"Shh, some things are meant to be revealed at the right time— that hurts!" Reborn hits me with his mallet, and I place my hand on that area. 

Finally, the ambulance arrives.

And I'm not the only one hurt. Karate club members are injured as well (not as much as I am) but they didn't want to be treated so they left. As for me, the paramedics informed everyone that they'll have to bring me to the hospital. Which is _absolutely_ great.

Please take note of my sarcasm.

The ride to that place is awfully quiet, with everyone staring at me. They want answers as to how I ended up in this situation, but I won't give it to them yet. At least not when I'm this exhausted and sleepy.

* * *

I wake up the next morning at 2:30 am. Lambo is sleeping peacefully beside me and I lie sideways. With just that slight movement he wakes up, and that reminds me that Lambo is actually a hitman.

"Sorry, I woke you up." I whisper, sitting up. I then carry him and hold him in my arms as gently as I can. I'm still a little sleepy but since I woke him up, I'd feel bad if I fall asleep and let him be.

"No, you didn't. Lambo-san was tasked to stay awake today; Lambo-san wasn't sleeping at all!" He says, and I smile.

"Is that so? Then you did well," Lambo smiles happily at the compliment, hugging me. 

"But.. the great Lambo is hungry." 

Feeling hungry as well, I stand up and look outside to see if there are any convenience stores we could go to at this hour. I scan the area and find one, but the problem is, how do we get there without being caught by the guards or nurses? I don't have a change of clothes, and I'm obviously a patient with the hospital's clothes on.

I then look down at Lambo and an idea comes to my mind.

"Want to play a game? We'll both be the players and our mission is to get out of the hospital without being caught. If we accomplish that, I'll buy you candies."

His eyes sparkle with happiness, and he nods at once. I grin, then tell him to wait for me as I grab my wallet. After I do so we start our mission, Lambo leading the way.

What amazes me is Lambo's ability to find the perfect places to hide on the spot when a nurse or doctor passes near us. He's perfect for jobs like this, and I would love to partner up with him should the opportunity arise.

"Let's go!" He says, walking cautiously. We open the emergency exit and run down to the ground floor, where we have to be most alert.

"Lambo, the guards there won't just let me escape easily. Can you make a distraction that won't put you in trouble but enough to let me leave? You have to follow me out, though." I ask him, and he takes the challenge on.

Seriously, I don't understand why everyone just pushes away Lambo and doesn't give him a chance. This cute ball of fluff has talent and I'm seriously in awe. 

"Hey, hey. Have you seen the great Lambo-san's ring?" I slip out of the hospital and gesture for Lambo to do the same, and he sneakily runs pass the guards once he sees me out of the building. We then cheer at the success of our mission and as promised, I buy every candy he likes.

I buy myself a few chips and a can of sods, and we sit down by the window. 

"Akane, what are you at the hospital for?" Lambo asks, tilting his head to one side to show his curiosity. That stops me from eating, and I tap my hips at where exactly Hibari hit me.

It's still kind of painful when I touched it, but other than that I'm fine.

I've always been the type to heal fast, but this is fast _fast_. Like, unusually fast. I was knocked out from the pain just yesterday, but now if I don't touch it, there's no pain at all.

"Akane?" I snap out of my thoughts, giving Lambo a smile. 

"I was injured a while back, but now I've healed. I guess I'll be out of the hospital sooner than I thought," I tell him. I open another pack of chips and start to eat it, then I give Lambo my full attention.

"So, Lambo, anything you want to do?" I ask, and the boy doesn't even hesitate and answers, "I want to kill Reborn."

I choke on my chips at the k word, and I immediately chug down the soda.

I should've expected that, but it still surprised me.

"Not that! I mean, what do you want to do right now? Hospitals are boring and I don't want to go back yet, so.."

"Lambo-san wants to play!"

Four hours later, I wake up on my hospital bed and Takeshi tells me that he found us sleeping at the convenience store and that he carried us both all the way from there to here.

"What were you doing outside?" 

The fact that Lambo and I played tag and hide and seek for three hours straight until we eventually got tired and slept at the convenience store is kept as a secret between Lambo and I (mostly because I am embarrassed that I was not able to find Lambo at all during hide and seek and at our game of tag, he ran way too fast for me to chase. But anyway, no one has to know that).


	5. Chapter 5

The doctors let me leave the next day in the afternoon, much to everyone's relief. How I healed unnaturally fast in less than two days is still a mystery, (and although they don't show it, the Family is very confused) but we're not in a rush to find an explanation for whatever is happening to me. 

Answers will come in time, you just have to wait.

Well, the "answer" probably involves some deep scientific stuff that's too complicated for my brain to comprehend, so I'd rather avoid knowing that. I'll stick with the 'my body is healthy so I heal fast' type of explanation, as that's all I can squeeze into my brain. I'm not one to understand topics under Science, and a clear proof of that is my Science grade.

"Akane, here you are!" Tsuna greets me (and pulls me out of my own world) as soon as he spots me at the corner of the coffee shop we all agreed to meet at. He then leans closer to me and whispers, "Reborn brought Kyoko-chan."

I smirk at those words, formulating a plan in my head. _Should I ask them to sit beside each other? In front of each other? Where should I put the two of them?_

Noticing the look in my eyes, Tsuna whines about how I'm just like Reborn, to which I reply with, "As a Tsuna x Kyoko shipper, I'm taking every chance to push you two closer."

He doesn't complain after that.

"Akane!" Tsuna's love of his life, Kyoko, calls, running towards me. "Thank you for saving me that day. You were hurt but you still protected me.."

"Hey, I told you didn't I? Girls should have each other's backs." I tell her, smiling reassuringly. "Plus, I wanted to test out my new attack. Did you see the way I kicked out that Kendo leader? Perfection."

She laughs and beams at me, "I did. It was flawless!"

The boys let us have our girl talk, interrupting us only when they asked for our orders. The lunch was also supposed to be on them but the second they were about to pay I excused myself from our conversation, snatched Ryohei's card, and paid for everything.

"But it's supposed to be my treat.." Ryohei trails off, looking at his card. I just laugh and mutter a 'sorry', then we head back to our table.

I take the seat beside Takeshi, handing him the receipt for our orders. I'm too lazy to carry all our drinks, so I'll just let him do the job. 

Understanding my actions, he waits for Ryohei's name to be called so he can get our food. I thank him for that, then turn to Tsuna. "So, how was your day?"

"I am deeply embarrased," Tsuna says, sighing out of his obvious frustration. "I had a Skullitis earlier. And although a doctor already healed it, it still can't erase the fact that I had one."

"What's a Skullitis?" I ask back, as Tsuna just groaned and covered his face with his hands. He leans back and sinks into the couch, showing how ashamed he is.

"That response.. that bad?" He nods at my question, and I frown. 

"It's a type of disease that one gets after being shot by the Dying Will Bullet ten times. It reveals your deepest secrets, and you die from it two hours after you get it." Reborn explains, then mocks Tsuna. "The poor boy almost died without knowing what a leap year is."

"Shut up," Tsuna cries, sinking deeper into the soft cushions. I lie and tell him that I didn't know until recently either, so he's not alone.

Still in a state of despair he tells me, "But the thing is, I still don't know what it is!"

..

Oh.

Before I could explain, Takeshi puts my coffee and cheesecake in front of me. He then proceeds to give Tsuna his milkshake, making our boss remove his hands from his face as he takes his drink from Takeshi. 

"Here's your Ham Sandwich, too." The baseball lover tells Tsuna as he hands him the sandwich.

He blushes furiously at the word 'ham', and I can tell that it's related to his Skullitis. At the sight of his reaction I tell myself that I should change the topic.

However, Reborn suddenly jumps to where Lambo is and whispers something. Lambo listens attentively, then yells.

"Tsuna can't drink coffee, and he doesn't even know the difference between a ham and a sausage!" Lambo laughs, "Ha! Dame-Tsuna!"

I forgot that Reborn loves torturing his student. _Of course_ he wasn't going to let it go just like that.

"Stop it!" Tsuna whines, covering his ears. He goes about how he can pretend that he didn't hear that if he covered his ears, while Reborn just threatens him with a gun-shaped Leon making Tsuna cover his forehead instead.

"You're no longer covering your ears, so you can't pretend anymore." Reborn teases as Tsuna curls into a ball on the couch, hiding from the world. Hayato, noticing this, starts to worry about the boy.

"Tenth! What's wrong?!" Hayato panics, focusing on our boss. He then tells him that he'll take his revenge on Shamal (Syamal? Siamal? Siomai?) for not treating the boss sooner. Kyoko, on the other hand, simply stares at him in concern, tapping his shoulder lightly. "Tsuna-kun?"

"Now, now. Tsuna's just tired." Takeshi laughs it off, and Ryohei nods in agreement. 

"Eat my food, it will comfort you." Bianchi raises up her cake, and everyone tries to talk her out of it. She stubbornly insists that Tsuna should eat her poisoned cake as it can help him get over his embarrassment. 

"No, thank you.. my milkshake is enough." Tsuna replies, crying as he drinks the milkshake. 

Kyoko, not liking the fact that he's still upset, tells him that everyone has their own secrets that they are embarrassed about. She says that personally, she isn't bothered by it and that it's really okay.

Seeing that everyone isn't even a little bothered by the secrets revealed by the Skullitis (Lambo's reaction is understandable since he's just a kid), he calms down and thanks everyone for comforting him.

"Ah right! There's this extreme yakiniku eat-all-you-can I want to go to with you all," Ryohei yells, changing the topic.

"It better be good, turf top!" Hayato scoffs, drinking his Caramel Macchiato. Ryohei glares at him, but doesn't pay him more attention than that.

"It's the best! There's over 80 dishes and there's also drinks and desserts. The reviews are extremely high, too." He says, scrolling at his phone. He then shows us a picture of the buffet, and I gasp.

"This is amazing! Let's try it out!" I squeal in excitement, and he hands me his phone. My jaw drops at the menu and, although I'm eating right now, I feel hungry all over again.

"Meat and buffet together? Not bad, turf top." Hayato, a known meat lover, says. His eyes are shining with excitement but he's trying to conceal it.

"We _have_ to go there." I stress the word 'have'. 

But then I check the price and almost drop the phone.

Opening my calendar app, I check the date of when _they'll_ send me money and I grin when I see that it'll be tomorrow. I was about to close the app when a note on my app catches my attention, so I tap it.

September 9, Hayato's birthday.

I glance up at him, then back to my phone in surprise. I bite my upper lip, wondering how we should celebrate his birthday. I look up at him one more time then to Ryohei, and I connect the dots. Hayato is a meat lover, and Ryohei is suggesting a yakiniku all-you-can-eat. 

"Let's eat there this Sunday." I firmly say, with no room for objection. I avoid looking at Hayato because he might realize that I know (I only know it because he mentioned it once when Tsuna asked us way back when it was just the three of us) and that I'm planning a surprise for him.

I see him flinch a little through my peripheral vision at the mention of the word Sunday.

"Ah, but how much is it?" Tsuna asks worriedly. Instead of showing him the price, I point the note to him and he just stares at it. It takes him a little time to realize what I'm planning and, just as I expected, he panics.

"Ah, it's not that expensive!" He exclaims, faking a grin, "We can go there. Yup, super affordable. No problem at all."

Obvious little idiot.

I grit my teeth in annoyance as I smile at him, kicking him under the table. His hand goes to his foot at once, and he hisses in pain. I continue smiling sweetly like nothing happened, while Tsuna regains his composure and leans back on the couch as if I didn't hit him.

"So, everyone in?" He asks, eyes stopping at Hayato's direction for a moment before looking back at me. 

"Can we know the price?" Hayato asks, rubbing the back of his neck. "I think we all know that I'm not as rich.."

"How much is your budget?" I ask, not giving Ryohei the time to speak. I give him a look that says 'I'll tell you later', and he silently nods at me.

"Around.." The dynamite-user trails off, hesitant. Not wanting to push him any further, I beam at him.

"No worries, it's super cheap for a high-class buffet like this. It's just 1000 yen," I lie, hoping that he'll just buy it without any more questions. 

He stares at me suspiciously, not believing that it would be that cheap. Fortunately, I'm pretty good at lying so he can't spot any more flaws in my statement.

"..Right," He finally says. I exhale quietly in relief, turning to Reborn. He gives me a smile, knowing exactly what I'm planning.

Maybe the little baby really can read minds.

"Okay," I tell them, sipping my drink. "So at Sunday, we'll meet at Tsuna's house."

"Sounds like a good plan." Reborn approves. He taps my arm, making me look at him. "Well now that it's settled, go buy me a Blueberry Cheesecake."

* * *

The lunch turned into dinner, and we all ended up going to Tsuna's place. His mom welcomed us warmly and even prepared a feast for all of us to enjoy.

Well, that was an hour ago. With nothing to do at home we decided to stay longer than planned, but then we got bored. A fight broke out as well, (we were thinking about what we could do while we were in Tsuna's house but.. we all had crazy ideas and it clashed against one another's) and then we just somehow decided to play a mobile game.

Now, we can't stop.

Whenever a team loses they'd ask for a rematch, and then they'd win. Then the other team will ask for a rematch and before anyone realized it, it became a cycle.

Takeshi, Tsuna and I are in team A while Hayato, Lambo and Ryohei are in team B. Bianchi left earlier to meet someone else, while Kyoko is downstairs helping Tsuna's mom. And of course, Reborn is our commentator.

Although the scores are tied, unfortunately for the enemy team, I grew up playing this game. I haven't even used my main heroes, yet. More so, I wasn't even playing seriously. Our chances of winning is high, considering that Hayato is a beginner.

"Wait.. Oh, so that's how! You do this, and that.. adjust," We're all silently watching as Hayato tries to study the game, our team a little scared because once Hayato learns the best techniques, our careers will be over.

"No good.. there's too many heroes." I smirk at that, and choose my best pick. Hayato surveys me closely, while I try to hide my smile.

I end up grinning.

"I knew it! You're planning to end the game here!" He complains, then looks seriously at the game. "I don't even know the differences.."

"It can't be helped, Akane-nee ranks high when it comes to mafia members who are good at online games." An adorable boy says, making me look at them teasingly. I drop the phone to the table, shrugging.

"Am I sensing an auto-win?" I ask and laugh. Hayato glares at me, while Ryohei and Lambo are still focused at the game.

"Tsuna-nii ranks high in that area as well, but so does Lambo." He continues, and the objects around him are floating. I glance at Lambo who is now boasting it repeatedly to Hayato, and I can feel that the white-haired man is about to yell at the five-year-old hitman. However, before I can even play the role of a referee in between the two, I hear Tsuna's voice.

"Huh? Who are you?" I look at them in confusion. The boy smiles at Tsuna, taking his hands and jumping around.

"I finally got to meet you, Tsuna-nii!" He says excitedly, eyesmiling his way to Tsuna's heart.

"He isn't your little brother? I just assumed.." 

Now that I think about it, they are in no way similar to one another. The boy's hair color is far from the other's, their eyes' shapes colors are different, and the way they carry themselves are contrasting.

"Younger brother? I'm an only child!" He shrieks, while being obviously charmed by the younger boy. I swear, he's just stopping himself from adopting the boy right then and there.

"Not anymore, from the way I see it." I tease, and he lightly elbows me. Rolling his eyes at me, he turns his attention to the boy.

"What's your name?" He asks gently, and I gaze at the boy, interested.

"Fuuta de la Stella," He introduces, still smiling brightly. "Nice to meet you!"

He's adorable.

The people around me have stopped playing and are now looking at the boy as well. Fuuta doesn't seem to mind the attention, as if he's used to it.

"Fuuta, also known as Ranking Fuuta. It is said that his rankings are 100% accurate. So, if someone takes his book of rankings, that person can dominate the world easily." Reborn explains, and we all nod at him. But really. World domination? This boy has to be such a good keeper if he managed to hide his book and not let anyone take it. "Anyway, Fuuta didn't come here to just rank you. He has a request,"

"A request? What could it be?" Ryohei asks, listening carefully.

"The mafia is after me. Please hide me, Tsuna-nii!" He says, eyes like a puppy as he stares into Tsuna's eyes.

"Huh? But why me? I can't do anything against the mafia!" Tsuna panics, looking away so he wouldn't be charmed again.

"I know that," Fuuta says happily, "because Tsuna-nii ranks 872nd out of 872 mafia bosses in terms of overall combat and intelligence. That's last place!"

"Don't sound so happy while saying that!" He complains, hiding his face in his hands again.

"I chose you because you're the #1 mafia boss who can't refuse a request. Not only that, you're also the #1 mafia boss with no ambition!" Fuuta continues, unbothered by Tsuna's reaction. 

"Now I just sound lame. The saddest part is, I can't even deny it." He says, letting out a sigh.

"Tenth isn't like that! There must be a mistake in his ranking.. right?" He hesitates saying the last sentence, knowing fully well just how accurate Fuuta's rankings are. The boy is well-known in the mafia world for that, after all.

"That ranking is.. kind of.." Takeshi trails off, not daring to continue. Tsuna just nods understandingly, crying silently.

"So? Are you going to protect the boy?" Reborn questions, pulling him forcibly back to reality. He looks at the boy seriously, crossing his arms.

"I just can't let him be when I know he's in danger." He tells us, closing his eyes. It takes him a moment but once he opens his eyes, it shows certainty.

"I'll protect him." I grin at his confidence, finally seeing how Tsuna would be as a boss a few years from now. Fearless, strong,— but most of all—ready to protect his allies no matter what the cost is.

I look at Reborn as he pulls his fedora down, smirking. He then looks up again and smiles calmly. 

"While I'm staying here with you all, can I rank you?" Fuuta asks, "I'd love to add more rankings in my book."

"If that's the case then I have something for you to rank!" Hayato rushes towards Fuuta, then sits in front of him. "What's my ranking in terms of the mafia members qualified to be the tenth's right-hand man?"

"Boring! What's Lambo-san's rankings?" Lambo asks, pushing Hayato away. This causes the two to fight instead, and I laugh lightly.

Objects around us start to float, and Fuuta's in his ranking mode. He's staring at me while talking to someone.

Kind of scary, but okay.

"Akane-nee is first when it comes to mafia members that are willing to die for her Family." He ranks, gaining my attention. "Also 7th out of 86,207 with many secrets, just right after Reborn who is 6th."

"The first one screams trustworthy, the second one shows how mysterious I am. Which one am I?" I joke, before realizing that I haven't revealed even a little of my life to the Family. More so, there are a lot of things that even I can't explain about me.

In short, I'm shrouded with a mist of mystery but even I had not noticed it.

"Maybe late night talks with the group will do the trick." Takeshi reassures, putting an arm around my shoulder. "What about me, little boy?"

"Takeshi-nii is 231st out of 80,223 in terms of running ability." He then turns to Hayato. "Hayato-nii is 116th out of 80,223 in terms of firepower."

"Those sounds promising. Akane's loyalty, Takeshi's endurance and speed, then Hayato's attack power." Reborn says, "Meanwhile, Dame-Tsuna is at the bottom of the pyramid."

"I don't care. I don't even want to be in the mafia!" He mutters, frowning. I chuckle and put my hand on his left shoulder for a second to comfort him.

"Lambo is the 1st out of 86,202 most annoying members, and also the first one that people wants to kill and use as a seat cushion."

My smile dims, and I glance at Lambo. "Those people are mean."

Lambo tears up at that, telling himself to "hold it in" but then yells that he couldn't. He takes something from his hair—a purple bazooka—and jumps in it. There's a loud bang, and suddenly the area is filled with pink smoke.

"Ah, so this is the ten year bazooka of the Bovino famiglia," Reborn says, quite amused. I try to wave away the smoke a little, only to see a stranger around our age.

The guy is thin, black-haired, and one of his eyes is closed. He looks calm—collected, even. 

"Hm? Seems like the younger me used the bazooka." He shrugs, before waving at me. "Hey, Sora-nee."

I freeze at that, staring at the newcomer warily.

"Who are you? And who is Sora?" I ask, taking him aback. He thinks for a moment, before gasping.

"Wrong person. Sorry, Akane." The guy apologizes, showing me a look that I can understand perfectly well. "Don't know how I mixed the two of you up." 

"That's still Lambo. He used the ten year bazooka of the Bovino famiglia. Whoever uses it switches with their future self." Reborn explains. I raise a brow at him and he smiles sheepishly.

"Adult Lambo, huh?" Tsuna mutters, before smiling at the guy. 

"Well, not really adult. I'm a teenager, you know." Lambo says, "But that works, I guess."

"Who are you? Sawada's/Tsuna's acquaintance?" Ryohei and Takeshi asks at the same time, and I'm not surprised. Muscleheads sometimes share one braincell.

"Please stop me from hitting them," Hayato says, clenching his fist in irritation. Fuuta slightly laughs, while I pull his fist down so that he won't use it against the two.

He checks Tsuna's alarm clock, then boredly looks at us. "Anyway, any questions before I go? I can only stay for five minutes." 

"How's the future?" Reborn asks. Lambo faces him, recognizing the little baby.

"Oh, you're here, Reborn." He greets casually. "The future I live in is nice, but your future.. not so sure."

"What do you mean? If it's nice then shouldn't our future be alright, as well?" Tsuna asks, while the boy just shakes his head.

"Parallel worlds, young Vongola. Even the tiniest details can change your future." He glances at me. "In fact, I just added something accidentally in this world."

"About _that_ ," I question. He's silent at first, but then he smiles.

"It wasn't a mistake."

My heart drops at that, but I wordlessly nod. He looks worriedly at me, and opens his mouth to speak. He closes it a second later, shaking his head.

"Just.. be careful, okay?" He says, eyes full of concern. I mentally take note of his words, seeing how serious he is. "I'll be going now,"

Pink smoke surrounds the room, and then there's our Lambo. He's eating a candy happily, running around the room.

"Ah, it's a small Fuuta!" He exclaims just as he jumps into Fuuta's arms, laughing. "I'm now taller than you!"

"If Lambo was given the chance to be this free in the future, then future Lambo was telling the truth." Reborn says, jotting it down on his notepad. He keeps it again (I wonder if his pocket can magically store objects in another dimension because that big notepad couldn't have possibly fitted in there) and then walks to Takeshi. "I would suggest a sleepover but I don't think we can all fit here."

"My house is always an option," I suggest—Takeshi dropping his hand from my shoulder at the same time—and raise my hand as if it's a class recitation. 

"What about your family?" Tsuna asks, and I give him a smile.

"I don't have a family." I say, far too chill about it. Tsuna frowns, probably thinking that him asking it was a mistake.

I chuckle at his reaction, kicking his arm. He groans in pain and holds his arm, looking offended. "What was that for?"

"Oh, you were looking like you've just been kicked so I made it a reality." I earn a glare at that, and a light kick as his revenge. 

"Maybe next time, it's too late for a last minute sleepover." Reborn says, checking the time. "And you have school tomorrow."

"Right. It's Thursday tomorrow." Is all I say, but the truth is I don't want to face Hibari yet. 

He'd surely try to fight me because he can't call our battle a win. There was no clear winner, even though the results are supposed to be obvious because I ended up in the hospital.

"Well I guess tomorrow I'll stay in," Fuuta says, kind of sad that we won't be around. 

"You can go to school with us." Reborn tells him calmly, "After all, it's Tsuna's duty to protect you. Can't really do that it you two are far from each other, can he?"

"Reborn! Hibari will bite him to death," Tsuna quickly disagrees, shaking his head. "Remember what he did to Lambo?"

"Then you protect him. Remember, you agreed to that." Reborn reminds. Tsuna looks confused, remembering that he agreed to a different word.

"I agreed to _hide_ him." Tsuna protests, "He's safer in this house."

"But I think it's better to bring him along," I mutter, gaining his attention. "Fuuta is a very important person in the mafia world. They'd do anything to find him and if they trace his tracks and end up here, no one can save him."

Tsuna hesitates. His gaze drops to the ground, fist clenching. He looks pressured, and I feel bad because he thinks it's his problem and only his.

"Don't," I tell him, and he looks up at me. "Don't think you're alone. Don't forget that we're your family; your problem is ours, and our problem is yours."

"Akane.." He trails off, trying to find the right words. "Rather than a mafia group, I do consider you my not blood-related family so,"

We all smile at his reply, glad to have a boss that cherishes us like how we treasure him. Seriously, what did we ever do to deserve him and this family? 

"What's your extreme decision?" Ryohei asks him, and he's silent for a little while.

Then, he nods. "Bring him along to school."

Making decisions like how a leader should. I'm so proud.

"Wow, Tsuna, you're growing up! I'm so happy that I'm in tears," I say as annoyingly sweet as possible. I wipe my fake tears away, grinning. He cringes at my words, pushing me away at once. I just laugh, teasing him more.

The night was filled with laughter and fun.

And for some reasons, I feel like it's the calm before the storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My "vacation" ends today, and I still have a lot of projects so from now on updates might be slower, but I'm hoping that it won't be.
> 
> Also, I really want to edit this soon because the story seems waaaaay too rushed, even for me. But I'll just edit it once I finish it, ig????


	6. Chapter 6

These days have been chaotic, without a pause.

First, I met Tsuna, Hayato, and Reborn. A few weeks after that, Takeshi showed up. Then, many others appeared: Bianchi, Lambo, Fuuta, Ryohei, and then Kyoko. 

I even got the chance to talk to Hibari—something I thought would never happen in this lifetime—and it's unsettling. Time is running way too fast for me and I can't catch up. Everything is being dropped at us continuously and I need a moment to breathe and to let it all sink in.

But it's not like the universe would be willing to give me a break, anyway. So instead of taking my time, I have to catch up and push myself beyond my limits.

 _Whatever_ , I think, _let's just get this day over with_. 

I stand up, and walk towards the kitchen. I head immediately for my cabinets and refrigerator for food, already thinking of multiple dishes that I'll make for my breakfast and lunch. However, when I open both, all it contains is air. The realization dawns on me, and I just let out a sigh.

I ran out of food.

I must have been so focused on my Family that I forgot to go shopping. 

Well, it doesn't matter. There's a lot of convenience stores around my area so I can just go and buy food now.

I take my phone and wallet before exiting my house. ( _Walk straight, then turn right at the second street. Take a few steps and then—_ ) I enter the convenience store, as the cashier sleepily greets me. I greet back out of politeness, then I walk around the store.

I grab a few Salmon Onigiri and a cold bottled tea, then I make my way to the cashier. He grumpily scans the items' bar codes, puts it in a plastic bag, then hands it to me. "That will be ¥560."

I give him the exact amount, and he nods. Before I completely step out of the door he says, "Come back again," but I know that he said that not because he actually wanted me to, but because they're required to. So, I ignore him and return to my house alone.

Or at least, that was the plan.

" _Ciaossu_ ," Reborn greets the moment I'm out of the store, appearing out of nowhere. I jump from the shock, not expecting him to show up. Especially not at this hour. "You're up early."

"So are you," I reply, placing a hand over my chest as I try to calm my panicked heart. "What are you up to at 3 in the morning, Reborn?"

"I was too lazy to sleep so I was roaming around," He explains, jumping onto my shoulder. "I'm inviting myself in your house. Lead the way, Akane."

"I—you know what, nevermind." I say defeatedly, knowing that there's no way that I can win in an argument where my opponent is a little baby wearing a fedora hat.

"I'm glad that you're aware of how amazing I am." He smirks smugly, making me scoff in disbelief.

This brat..

"Don't start calling me a brat now, _marmocchia_." He rolls his eyes at me, once again reading my mind. "You're years too young to be calling me that. In fact, no one is allowed to call me that."

"Ah, right. You're the world's greatest hitman, after all." I tease lightly, as I grin like a fool. He glares at me, transforming Leon into a mallet in an instant.

I regret my life decisions.

He hits me with it, and I hiss in pain. How can a tiny body like his contain such power? I'm really starting to think that Reborn is not the baby he appears to be. "I can't even have some fun," I mutter, pouting a little. 

Remind me not to tease him again.

Or, I'll just keep on teasing him until he gets used to it and stops hitting me. 

(A suicidal plan, I know. But what is life without fear, anyway?)

Finally arriving at my house, we enter it silently and I lock the door behind me. Reborn jumps off my shoulder, surveying my house.

"You live here alone?" He asks, raising a brow at me. 

"Yep," I answer. We both walk to my dining room, and he sits on the table. I start making him coffee, remembering that he always drinks one.

Silence surrounds us for a while, but neither of us bother in breaking it. I just focus on his coffee, not minding anything else.

Once I'm done, I place the coffee in front of him. He thanks me, drinking it as he sits comfortably on his stack of pillows. (When and where did he get those pillows?)

"So," He starts, taking another sip from his coffee, "I think we should go to mafialand. Day-off and all, you know."

"Mafialand?" I ask, "what's that?"

"You'll know when you get there." He smirks, and I roll my eyes. He's always been good at cliffhangers, why did I expect an answer other than that?

"Yeah sure I will. So, what's the plan?"

"I don't know. Maybe let Tsuna think that he'll finally have some peace but then we show up and ruin his day?" He questions, although it came out as more of a sure plan.

I smirk. "That's not the only reason we're going there, I presume?" 

"No. Of course not," He says, taking a sip of his esspresso. "I'll be introducing you lot to an enemy of mine."

"I mean, there's probably a lot on that list but go on.." Leon shifts into a mallet and I instinctively cover my head—a reflex that will turn into a habit if you're always around Reborn—but he doesn't hit me.

"Before I hit you with this, I need to ask you a question." He says, smiling innocently. I drop my hands to my side and furrow my brows at his expression, just as he turns mallet shaped Leon into a gun and— "Would you mind if I break a window or two?"

He shoots.

The bullet shatters the windows, making me stand up in caution. I hear loud shoutings outside the door, and so I immediately carry Reborn and run to the opposite side of the noise. However, the back door opens abruptly, cornering Reborn and I. I retreat back to the safety of my dining room, if it was safe at all.

"Which famiglia is it?" I ask him in a hurry, touching the gun that's taped to the leg of the dining table.

"The logo looked like Yukimura Famiglia's."

I let go of the gun and exhale in relief. He raises a brow at me, but doesn't ask for more details.

"You've never joined in a fight," He blurts out, shooting through another window. "But can you?"

"If you won't press for more details then my answer is yes." I say, borrowing his gun. I check the bullets loaded but he pulls it back, replacing it with flat bullets that are covered in lightning. 

"Just shock them, kid. Don't want you killing someone now, do we?" He says, handing me the gun. I chuckle at that and aim for the middle of the door. 

I wait, listening carefully to the soft footsteps and voices surrounding us two. It takes a little while, but the men eventually show up. Pressing the trigger, I shoot the one in the middle and the electricity hits everyone in the area.

"That's very efficient," I tell him, analyzing the gun on my hand. 

"Only when used properly," He replies, "You can use pistols very well. What about martial arts?"

"Who knows? Maybe I'm good at it, too." I say, laughing before shooting through the window on my right. The bullet pierces the car and electrocutes that area, the people outside screaming in pain.

I shrug, grinning boastfully. Reborn takes Leon back, turning it into a mallet and hitting me with it. "That was a low-class famiglia and you used _my_ bullets. Don't be so arrogant now, marmocchia."

"Let me bask in the glory, at least!" I complain, hissing at the pain of his hit. He rolls his eyes, holding Leon and for a moment there it looked like he was going to hit me again but Leon suddenly turns into a gun and the hitman aims for the door.

"Finishing it all with just two bullets? As expected of the world's greatest hitman; your weapon is amazing." A man walks carefully, raising both his hands to show that he has no weapon then puts it down. 

"Don't tell me they're here for _you_ , and you made me defeat them in your stead?" I ask the little baby, to which he glares at me.

"You think I'd let you solve my problems for me?" He retorts, before turning to the man before us.

"Oh no, you've got it wrong. I didn't come here for the _arcobaleno_ ," He laughs creepily, sending chills to my spine. "I've come here for _you_."

"What do you want from me? I have nothing," I raise a brow at him, gesturing for the man to go home. He glares at me, almost as if to say that he doesn't need my permission to continue speaking.

Oh, but he does.

"Due to certain circmustances I'd rather not inform you of our objective," He says, smiling sadistically. "we are not declaring a war on Vongola. We are just here for you.. alone."

"Unfortunately she is under the protection of the Tenth," Reborn says, "so if you want her, you go through them."

The man bursts out laughing, wiping his non-existent tears before his face turns to a serious one.

"Ah, you're going to regret not wanting to be involved in this, arcobaleno." He warns, dull eyes focused on the one beside me. "But that's fine; better for us, even."

He's seriously after me?

"They did a good job in hiding you, sweetheart." He says, taking a step forward. "Took us years to locate you."

I go pale at that.

If I wasn't taking him seriously before, now I am. 

**THATINFORMATIONISCLASSIFIEDTHISISANEMERGENCY—**

More men walk in, with a different logo tattooed on their arms.

Furukawa Famiglia.

So that's why.

"I don't think you got the right person." I try, but the man just rolls his eyes. I let out a sigh, clenching my fists as I ready for a fight. "But whatever, let's get this over with."

"Do you need help?" Reborn asks, and I shake my head.

"This is my fight, so I'll handle it." I tell him, glancing at him for a second. "I'll have to tell you, though. This isn't a normal battle."

Just as I say that, they pull out weapons of all kinds but with the same use. I grin, scanning the crowd and checking if there's anything I should look out for.

I notice a gun from way behind, one that can possibly paralyze me if the bullet hits me. So, I use my Lightning Flames, directing it to the gun—

..

and I accidentally hit the crowd along with it.

The screams brought by the electric shock are enough to wake up a whole and normal neighborhood, but because Namimori is a unique town I know for sure that they wouldn't wake up from that. In fact, if the whole world was in chaos, I doubt Namimori would be even slightly bothered by it.

The shock doesn't last long, fortunately, and everyone drops to the ground right after.

"Ah, this is.." I trail off, looking at them worriedly. Some try to move their bodies, but to no use; the shock was a little too much for them to recover immediately.

Reborn is quiet, eyes on the people before us. I think he's in a deep thought of some sort and, because I don't want to be hit by his mallet, I just let him be.

"You're still as violent as ever," A voice speaks from one of the guy's phone, and I take it.

"Verde," Reborn says, staring at me with confusion written all over his face. I give him a reassuring smile, and I tell him that I'll reveal to him a few of my secrets later.

"How am _I_ the one violent, when you just sent two famiglias my way for a freaking test?" I reply.

"Two famiglias?" He questions, "I only sent one but whatever floats your boat, I guess."

"Why do you know each other?" Reborn asks stubbornly, catching the attention of the other baby.

"Reborn, is that you?" Verde asks back, "Well, not that I care. Akane, you've barely passed the first test. Those flames? Weak. Uncontrollable. Wild."

"Seriously, shut up." I retort, "Why are you insulting me and my flames when you just risked the mafia knowing my little secret?"

Verde chuckles, and I hear him typing on the keyboard over the call. He's silent for a while, probably getting caught up in whatever he's doing.

After waiting for a few seconds, he finally answers, "What I sent them was a script, nothing that could risk your identity leaking. And if it comes to worse, just kill them all or something." 

"Now I really don't want to know what goes on in your mind." I say, rolling my eyes. It's not like he could see me do that, though. And even if he could, I highly doubt that he'd care.

"Whatever. If by the next test you don't have full control of your ability, I'm going to kill you in person." He says, then scoffs, "I didn't wait for two years—thinking that you've been training—only for you to do the exact opposite. Disappointing."

"Unfortunately, I can't hear you over you cleaning up this mess in my house." 

"No thanks." He ends the call, making me groan in frustration. I furrow my brows, before glaring at the men on the ground.

"You're all awake, right? You better leave—" Reborn cuts me off by kicking me from the side, and I hold onto my arm. "Why do you always hit me?!"

"Be quiet," Reborn snaps at me, turning to the group of mafia members that are now dusting their clothes as if nothing happened. The other group (the ones I electrocuted) have retreated to the back of the room in fear, and I actually feel bad.

I bet Verde threatened them, and that's the only reason they went after me.

"If the group with weapons were sent by Verde, then who sent you?" He asks the confident men. They stand up straight, unafraid of the hitman by my side.

Suddenly, they run out of the house, all the while shooting bullets at us. I take cover behind a cabinet, and Reborn jumps to my shoulder. "You said that you'll handle it, so go after them!" 

I jump out at those words, pull the gun from below the table, and run out of my house. I chase them while Reborn hands me the gun and I try to shoot a lightning bullet at them. However, three men stops running and shoots the bullet back with accuracy, and the lightning flames fade slowly. 

"We can't chase," I stop the moment I see that and tell Reborn. I simply watch as they continue running, unable to do anything. 

"Why?" 

"Those bullets.. they absorb flames. Incomplete and very weak, but still effective." I explain, walking towards the said bullets and picking them up. 

Smart move, shooting three at once to make up for its weak power.

They are silver in color, dull and cheap looking, but if someone with little to almost no flame is shot by it, it could be deadly.

"A weapon against Vongola?" He asks, and I nod my head.

"Only the Vongola famiglia so far are active flame users. They're probably planning to rule the underworld by taking over the Vongola Family."

"By absorbing their flames, it means that their life force would be taken as well." He adds to my explanation, as I take the bullets with me and pass it to him.

He takes it wordlessly, eyeing it carefully.

"And you know all these because?" He mutters after a while, pocketing the items. He hops off, sitting on the top of the wall instead.

I look at him, wondering what I should reply. Lies are never good, and I will never tell him something that isn't true. 

So I take a deep breath, closing my eyes for one moment before smiling.

"Because I've been pulled into the deeper parts of mafia before."

* * *

"I'm starving, and also exhausted." Tsuna complains, sitting down on the ground as he puts his lunch box before him. I sit down in front of him, while Takeshi and Hayato sit on my left and right respectively.

"School is pretty tiring these days. You know, with the projects, reportings, and all." Takeshi mutters, opening his lunch box. I nod in agreement, sighing as I remembered that I still have a roleplay project and two reportings in two different subjects.

"What are you talking about? For sure Tenth isn't tired because of that! He's so great, after all." Hayato scoffs, then turns to Tsuna. "Right, Tenth?"

"Actually, I _am_ tired because of those." Tsuna says, leaning back on the wall. Hayato opens his mouth in an attempt to say something, but closes it afterwards.

"Oh." He mutters, not knowing what to say. "I mean, if you need help, I'm always right here, Tenth!"

"Yeah. Thank you for that, Hayato." He sincerely says, smiling at the other. I watch them in silence, not really knowing what to say.

Nevermind the projects because I don't really care much about those, but Reborn told me that the underworld—for some reasons—is more active than ever.

They're searching.

They want something.

I look up at Tsuna worriedly. The young Decimo shouldn't be exposed to the dark parts of the mafia (as if mafia isn't dark enough already) yet. He wouldn't be able to handle it.

First, let him deal with his problems. Once Reborn thinks that he can carry the weight of the Families, he himself will be the one to kick him towards that path.

Maybe literally, but that's a topic for another time.

"..right, Akane?" Takeshi blurts out, catching me by surprise. I realize that the three of them are staring at me, waiting for an answer.

"Huh? Yeah." I reply hesitantly, and Takeshi's grin widens. He shows me his palm, but I don't think that's his objective. Is he asking me to give him something?

"Then hand it over," He says, confirming my guess. I raise a brow at him, but he just continues on grinning. "Come on, you just said 'yes' when I asked you to give me ten thousand yen."

"What? That's what you were asking me about?!" I exclaim, before rolling my eyes. "I hate you three."

"Tenth and I are innocent!" Hayato tells me seriously, but after a while of me just glaring at him he smiles. "Okay, but that was my idea."

"And you call yourselves my friends. How shameless." I scoff, pushing my wallet deeper into the pocket of my uniform.

Tsuna smiles innocently at me, before saying, "Unfortunately for you, we're not just friends; we're Family.".

"And now you're telling me I'm stuck with you all for a long time? Unfortunate, indeed." 

"You're saying that as if you don't like that," Reborn pops out of nowhere, joining them in teasing me.

"Dear mother, life here is not at all fun. I have four enemies—woah!" Reborn's thorny costume almost pricks me, but I move out of the way before he continues his plan. 

"What is that?" Tsuna asks, before shaking his head. "No, the question is, what are you up to now?"

"Not much," Reborn mutters as he changes his target, pricking our Sky instead. "just poisoning you, that's all."

"What—?!"

Reborn shrugs, as if it isn't a big deal. "Yeah, Bianchi made this for Home Ed. a few years back. Still as effective as ever, though."

"Please tell me you're joking."

"Unfortunately for you," Reborn mocks, "thirty seconds is all it takes for the poison to take effect and—"

Tsuna faints, and Hayato rushes to Tsuna. Takeshi stands up in alert, eyes not leaving our boss. "—there you go. Exactly thirty seconds."

"Reborn-san!" Hayato complains, while I stare at the little baby in confusion.

He has a plan. I know that for sure.

"Don't worry, I know a place where he can recuperate in the meantime." Reborn pulls his fedora down, a smirk on his lips.

"Where?" Takeshi asks curiously, and the little baby looks up and slightly smiles.

"The reception room,"

I furrow my brows at Reborn. I know that place, being a Theatre Club officer myself.

According to our president, Hibari has made it into his committee's room and whoever dares to even take a step in it will be bitten to death.

"But that's—" He gives me a glare. "where I wanted to suggest! Wow, we're so similar!"

"Sounds fishy but since it's Reborn-san who suggested it.." Hayato mutters, pulling Tsuna up. Takeshi helps him in carrying our Sky all the way to the said room.

"Now, this will be our hideout." The hitman says with such a normal tone, as if he doesn't know what danger is upon us. 

_Whatever plan you have in your mind, count me out._ I think, and when our eyes meet I shake my head to say 'no'. 

I just got out of the hospital, and I wouldn't want to be brought back in.

"This is for experience, Akane." He tells me, jumping to the couch and taking out a coffee maker from a hidden compartment in the said couch.

"Yeah, no. I already had a fight today, thank you very much. I don't need more." I start to retreat, but then Hibari shows up in front of me.

"What are you doing in my territory?" He asks, tonfa in hand. "Here for another fight?"

"You sent me to a hospital last time and you think I want another trip there? No thanks," 

He averts his gaze to the two guys behind me after hearing those words. Takeshi and Hayato are standing in front of Tsuna, ready to protect him at all costs.

"Stupidity or foolishness, which of the two?" Hibari asks, pertaining to the two oblivious idiots who think they can take on the guy before me.

Maybe not Takeshi, because he's obviously torn between carrying Tsuna and running away, or fighting Hibari to protect our Sky.

"I'd say both," I tell him, making him frown.

"Herbivores, then." Hibari says, and in one swift motion he takes out Hayato. Takeshi is surprised, and tries to regain his composure but Hibari hits him in an instance. Takeshi jumps back, then the two fight for more than a while (one that's longer than usual when the one you're facing is Hibari) but still not that interesting.

"If only you weren't favoring your right hand.. maybe you would have been a little more interesting." Hibari says before strucking Takeshi right at his stomach with his tonfa. The other faints from the impact, and he falls to the ground.

I clap my hands, "Congratulations, or something."

"What do you mean? You're next," He says, trudging towards me but I stop his movements by raising a hand in front of me—palm facing him—in a 'stop' gesture.

"Not in the mood." 

Tsuna suddenly stands up, waking up from his sleep. Hibari's attention turns to him, while our sky just looks around. He spots Hayato and Takeshi on the ground, and he panics.

"Hayato? Takesshi?" He asks, trying to wake them up. As Hibari watches the tenth, I walk over to Reborn and sit on the couch.

Tsuna and Hibari talk for a while—Tsuna in fear and Hibari not at all interested—but I'm not listening anymore. I'm just staring, and waiting.

 _BecauseifitcomestoworseandHibaridarestoevenhurtoursky—_

Hibari walks forward in the direction of Tsuna, but when our sky runs away, he doesn't follow. Instead, he pulls Hayato and Takeshi up, and drags them towards the window.

I remain silent as I watch them, eyeing him carefully.

_**Tsuna, are you going to stand up for them or are you going to let them fall?** _

Tsuna's obviously afraid, if his shaking hands are a proof of that. His eyes widen and he glances at me, then back to Hibari.

He knows he has to do this by himself.

"What are you doing?" He asks, and Hibari pauses. 

"Throwing away everything that's unnecessary in my room." He says, and when he tries to push the two over the window Tsuna _runs_.

He pushes Hibari away, or at least tries to, and the older raises a brow at him.

"Oh?" Tsuna almost runs away at the tone of the prefect's voice, but he's determined to fight against Hibari. He has the will to save the two.

"Save them with your dying will, Dame-Tsuna."

And a loud bang rings in our ears.

The usual stuff happens; Tsuna falls, the flames ripping his shirt and pants off him. He shouts, telling Hibari that he won't let the prefect do what he wants, and he fights.

Finally able to push Hibari away, he's now pulling the two back to the safety of the room.

..If you can call it safe. Personally, I'd say that this room is far from that word and is more of a dangerous and scary hideout of the disciplinary committee but whatever.

Hibari smirks, then lunges forward but Reborn jumps to the window and throws a coffee bean at him mid-air.

The prefect stops, turning to the little baby. He grins in amusement, then brandishes his tonfa against Reborn whom takes out a long metal and blocks Hibari's attack without exerting much effort.

"Wao," Hibari says, pushing his weapon but nothing happens. "You're very strong."

"You are, too." Reborn says, taking something from his pocket secretly—a dynamite—and prepares to light it up.

"I would love to fight you,"

Reborn smiles.

"Maybe one day." Reborn lights the dynamite and drops it. He jumps on my shoulder, then I pull Tsuna and jump out of the window.

If we fall, I'm using the three as a cushion. 

Suddenly, Leon turns to a paraglider and we fly, Reborn and I holding onto a handle while Tsuna grabs onto the rope below us two.

The flame extinguishes and he once again panics, trying to hold onto the two so they won't wall but the three end up falling at the swimming pool.

I burst out laughing, watching the scene unfold from above. We soon drop to the ground, right by the pool.

"Reborn, what was that?!" Tsuna complains. Reborn shrugs, and I copy the little baby's action when Tsuna turns to ask me the same question. Meanwhile, Hayato and Takeshi are behind him, obviously embarrassed.

"Tenth, sorry for not being able to protect you!" Hayato yells, bowing. 

"Yeah, man. I was knocked out, and I wasn't even able to do anything." Takeshi mutters, rubbing the back of his neck. Their apologies takes Tsuna aback, and he furrows his brows.

"I wasn't expecting you to protect me."

Hayato stands up quickly in shock, eyes wide. "Tenth..?"

"Don't take it the wrong way! I mean the two of you were told to be my 'guardians' by Reborn but I never really agreed to that, have I?" He explains with a frown. "How do I say this? We're friends. You're not my guardians or bodyguards. A family, sure. But not mafia family type of stuff."

"Cheesy stuff," Reborn whispers to me and I lightly giggle. "but heartwarming words to you, huh?"

"Please stop exposing me." I mutter, fixing my gaze on Tsuna. He turns to me and smile brightly, and it reminds me of a calming sky.

"A natural sky," I tell Reborn. He nods at me as he watches their interactions. The three are forming a very tight bond, but not yet close to harmonization.

In the first place, what exactly is harmonization? I've heard my parents talking about it before, but I've never quite fully grasp the concept of it. I think it's about flames or something like that.

Cool stuff.

"When are you going to tell me about your active flames, though?" Reborn asks, and I widen my eyes at him.

"Don't ask so casually," I say, rolling my eyes. "The Yukimura family is well and alive, you know."

"Yeah, but I doubt they can sneak past through me if they had spies." He confidently says, smirking smugly. I chuckle at that, and he grins.

"Do the Sawada household have an extra room? Though my house has been kept a secret for almost a decade now, the information has been leaked and I don't feel as secured."

"I can make some arrangements," He tells me, "Maman would love to have another guest to take care of."

"Sometimes I wonder how carefree she can be," I shake my head, not wanting to think about it any further. "but that is a question for another lifetime, perhaps."

He doesn't say anything else, especially since we caught the attention of the three and they realized that we weren't listening to what they were saying. So, they're now talking to us about the random stuffs that they had been discussing about while the two of us were in our own world.

* * *

Nana Sawada was a little too excited when she learned that I would be staying at their house while my house is being.. "rennovated".

Well, it is indeed being fixed, so it isn't a complete lie, I guess?

At first, I had a hard time trying to search for people who can fix my house but the Furukawa Famiglia showed up after a while and told me that they'll be the one to do the job. In fact, the said famiglia was very enthusiastic about replacing my broken windows and fixing my dining room when I promised that I wouldn't use my flames against them. 

Setting all that aside, I open my door and find Reborn outside. He looks up at me, smiles, and enters my room.

"What do you want to know?" I ask after closing my door. He sits on the table, while I sit on the floor. 

He thinks for a while, probably listing his questions. 

"Although I can't actually answer everything. Omerta, and all that." I add, so that he wouldn't expect much from me.

"Then tell me everything you're allowed to say," He says with seriousness, and I nod.

First, I take a paper and pen from my cabinet, then start to list down everything that I can say. I don't want to accidentally reveal a secret, even though Reborn is someone I trust.

"Well, as you already know, I'm an active flame user. I have a Lightning Flame, and.. yeah." 

He furrows his brows, but remains silent as he lets me continue.

"I'm guessing that you're curious about what I meant when I said that I was pulled into the deeper parts of mafia before," I say, "but that's something I cannot reveal. So, I'll just talk about the incident related to it."

"Stop beating around the bush and say it."

"Many families—Vongola's enemies—are after me. The reason I cannot say but.. I have something they want." I tell him, crossing my legs as I lean against my bed.

Reborn is thinking, or rather I believe he is, and he takes off his fedora hat. I force myself to not comment on his spiky hair, and on how cute he looks without the hat.

"You talked about these bullets being incomplete and weak," He pulls out the bullets that the Yukimura left. "And you seemed to know its properties well, and is updated on the latest technology of the underworld."

"Verde made sure of that," I say, taking out my phone and showing him an app that keeps me updated with the latest weapons discovered. "Can't protect myself if I don't know what I'm up against, can I?"

Reborn nods to acknowledge my reply, and continues speaking. "They made a scene and left evidence. Despite them being a low-class famiglia, I'm sure they wouldn't have made such a fatal mistake."

"They left a message, telling you that they know your identity and will continue chasing after you." He says with certainty, eyes fixed on me.

I bite my lower lip, staring nervously at him. He raises the bullet, then smirks at me.

"You're not just a Lightning Flame user, are you?"

To be able to connect the dots like that.. he's very intelligent. The hitman is too amazing, and I underestimated him. I let out a sigh, smiling faintly at his words.

"Exactly. But unfortunately I'll have to stop our talk here, because if I reveal more information then I'll be breaking Omerta."

"At least I'm no longer as kept in the dark as before." He shrugs, but the look in his eyes tells me that he's still bothered that he doesn't know everything. Even still, he knows too well that breaking Omerta can lead to heavy consequences like being abandoned by famiglias and worse, being taken in by Vindice for breaking the law. So he lets out a sigh, wearing his fedora hat again. "I guess the rest of the story is for you to keep, and for me to find out."

"One day, maybe I'll tell you." I say, the word 'promise' hanging loosely on my lips. I'm still not sure if I can trust him till the end, but I'm hoping I can. "But for now, yes. It is mine to keep and yours to learn."

He hums as a response, jumping off the table. He checks the time on my alarm clock, then turns to me. "It's late already, but I'm hungry. Do you know how to cook?"

"A little," 

"Impress me." I raise a brow at the challenge, standing up almost immediately. He hops on my shoulder, and we go downstairs.

We bump into Tsuna who's looking for food as well, so I offer to cook something for us three.

"Don't burn the kitchen," Tsuna teases me, and I kick the back of his knee making him stumble. Reborn and I laugh at that, while he whines about how we're always teaming up against him.

"You started it!" I retort, rolling my eyes. He scoffs in disbelief, then tries to argue a little more. I focus on finding ingredients to be able to think of a dish to make, so Reborn replaces my spot in the argument and the two fight a little.

After seeing the ingredients available, I decided to make tempura and tonkatsu. I gather the ingredients needed, put them into small bowls and start cooking.

I'm not sure if I was just too focused on what I was doing, or if they really weren't speaking and that's why I couldn't hear their voices while I was cooking.

After a while I finally finish, and I serve them the dishes.

"Wow, these look really good." Tsuna compliments, taking a few of the dishes at once. Reborn takes his portion too, and I wait for their comments before eating.

Reborn is the one who tastes it first, and he doesn't speak for a few seconds. I look at him nervously and expectantly, then he looks up at me.

"This is good, marmocchia." Reborn tells me, grinning. He takes another bite. "Impressive." 

Tsuna tries the tempura, and it doesn't take long before he gasps and faces me. "Wow, this tastes great! Where did you learn to cook?"

"Thank you. I learned at home, self-taught and all." I bashfuly mutter, as I start to eat as well. Tsuna nods at that, and he continues to eat.

At first we're quiet, only giving each other a glance but as the time passes by we end up talking about random topics, the conversation flowing smoothly towards unknown directions. 

From our favorite seasons, to our thoughts about the mafia, and then our dreams.

Those pure and innocent dreams that will soon be tainted by our inevitable fates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, sorry for the long wait! I've been very busy this past month (midterms and all), and was unable to write even though I've been itching to do so.
> 
> Anyway, please always take good care of yourselves! Stay safe everyone, and may 2020 make it up and be better to us (despite January being a little too cruel on us).


	7. Chapter 7

_...Rrrrrrring..._

_...Rrrrrrring..._

_Click._

_.._

_“They're starting the project already. In fact, their prototypes can deal actual damage and is possibly lethal.”_

_“It won't take long before they reach me; they already sent a warning. There's no more point in trying to keep my existence hidden.”_

_.._

_“After all, they already found me.”_

_Click._

* * *

"Quick, Tsuna just messaged me and said that they're arriving soon!" Yamamoto informs everyone, as we finish the last of the preparations for Hayato's birthday celebration. 

We booked a private room at the expensive buffet, decorated it with everything that we know Hayato is fond of, ordered a large cake, and now the party is about to start.

"There they are," Reborn says, chuckling in amusement as we panicked at his announcement. We head to our respective places at once, just as Hayato walks in through the door.

Cue confetti and loud greetings.

"Happy birthday, Hayato!" We all scream cheerfully in unison, and the birthday boy freezes in shock.

I walk towards him with the cake (no way I'm entrusting the cake to any of the guys) and smile happily at him. "Happy birthday!"

"Make an extreme wish!" Ryohei shouts, while Tsuna and Yamamoto laughs.

"Wish for Lambo-sama to have more grape candies in the nearest future possible!" Lambo adds, earning a glare—not really, but for the sake of Hayato's pride I'll call it a glare—from the birthday boy.

"Ah, why am I so nervous?" Hayato laughs awkwardly—his voice trembling slightly—as he closes his eyes and mentally makes a wish. After a few seconds of silence, he opens his eyes and blows the candles.

"Since this is a special day, I'll make sure to eat a lot." I say, smiling. Hayato mutters, 'that doesn't even make any sense!', but I put my hands over my ears as my grin widens. "Unfortunately, I can't hear you over the loud celebration of your birthday."

"Okay, before we eat! Let's hand him our presents," Tsuna tells everyone, and we all nod in agreement. I take my carefully wrapped gift (special thanks to the gift wrapping station at the mall because my uncreative self could never) and put it over my lap.

"Let's start with me," Tsuna says, handing his present. Hayato takes it gently, still in shock.

"Tenth, thank you." He genuinely thanks, a shy smile on his face. Tsuna replies with a 'no problem', and urges him to open the present.

'The Secrets of U.M.A.s' is the book that Tsuna had gotten for Hayato. The boy's eyes sparkles at once, excitement radiating off him.

"U.M.A.s.. I've never heard of it! Wow, this is so amazing!" He says, fanboying in front of us. 

He realizes that he's acting far from his usual personality, and tries to regain his composure.

"Oh come on, Hayato. What are you embarrassed about?" Yamamoto asks, as he hands Hayato his gift. 

"I'm not embarrassed!" Hayato retorts, and despite him attempting to fight the baseball-lover, there's a smile on his face.

He opens the present, and gasps. He takes out a gray jacket, and shows it to us. "I recently bought a red shirt! I bet this will look good with that,"

His smile is _dazzling_. He looks so happy.

"Okay, I'm next!" Ryohei yells, and Hayato takes the present. Opening it, he takes out a silver bracelet and shows it off to us.

Detailed designs are engraved on it, and yet it's not flashy at all. It's perfect for someone like Hayato, and I'm actually pretty sure he thinks the same.

"Wow. You guys have great fashion sense." He sighs in happiness, wearing the bracelet. He looks at it for a while and smiles, while the Bovino baby walks over to him.

"Gokudera, happy birthday!" Lambo gives him his gift, and then returns to where we are. 

"Thanks, brat." The birthday boy replies. (There's fondness in his voice but, again, I will not comment on it.) The present is opened just as soon as it was received, and he reveals Lambo's gift.

A sunglass with light orange colored lens, and a silver frame. 

He's quiet for a while, glancing at Lambo. There's tears in his eyes, and he wipes his eyes.

"It's beautiful." He mutters, wearing the sunglass. It suits him perfectly.

I walk towards him, and I hand him my gift. He looks up at me, and I grin. 

"Happy birthday, Hayato."

He happily smiles back, and he takes my gift. He opens it, just as I walk away. Then, once I'm back in my original place, I turn to look at him. He looks at the book, 'The Magical Wonders of The World', and once again wipes his tears away. He looks at my direction thankfully, and I nod understandingly.

"I don't know what to say to you guys," He finally tells us after a while of silence, covering his face with his hands. "I never thought you would.."

"Celebrate your birthday?" Ryohei asks, and the other nodded. Our sky's eyes become soft, but he doesn't say anything. "Why wouldn't we?"

"I didn't think I had any worth to you all," He confesses, and my heart aches at that. I clench my fist tightly, trying to form words in my head to comfort him but—

I've never really been good with words.

"Then I'll tell you now, Hayato. You are important to us, because we're a family, aren't we?" Tsuna tells him, and Hayato's eyes widen.

Cue tears.

And a group hug.

It takes him a while to gain his composure, and when he does his smile is bright. He looks at each of us, taking in the moment.

"Well, now let's get this party started," I say, grinning.

And lastly, cue chaos.

* * *

The celebration was fun for us.

Which is a rephrased version of 'we had fun but I bet the staffs are cursing us loudly by now because of the mess that we have done'

We stayed there for a long time after realizing that there was no time limit.

Like, _long_ long.

Not only that. We also ate _a lot_ , if the pointed looks on the staff's face as they hesitantly gave us our orders are anything to go by.

In fact, I overheard them talking about how we're eating up all of their stocks but they can't make us leave because there's no rule against what we were doing.

But anyway, we all had fun and we made Hayato happy. 

"Good job, kid." Reborn hops to my shoulder, smiling. I smile back, pulling him into my arms (where he's facing the street and his back on me).

Fortunately, he doesn't complain.

"Thank you, Reborn. Did you have fun?" I ask, and he nods.

"Yeah, the food was delicious."

I just nod my head—not like he can see with the way I'm holding him—and we walk in silence. We're currently heading for Tsuna's house, and I can't wait to just lie on the floor and sleep. Because I am TIRED, and I want to rest. 

I suddenly come to a stop, my instincts telling me that something is about to happen.

But what?

"Akane?" Reborn calls, and I blink my eyes.

"Oh, right. Sorry," I apologize, continuing my journey towards Tsuna's house.

My heart is hammering against my chest, and Reborn tips his fedora down. Leon turns into a gun, so I'm thinking that it's something that affects the both of us.

The streets are becoming distorted, as if we were in Persona 5 and are about to enter a cognitive world. 

And perhaps the truth is not far from that.

We are forcibly shoved into the world of illusions—or at least _I_ am, because Reborn is practically immune to Mist flames—and I panic.

There's a video playing out in front of me, a w̴̨̻͚͙̠̦̱̫̙͉̤̏̿̑͆͂͝ȃ̶͚ŗ̸̰͎͔̤̖̠̭͉̄͛̂̔̒͘͠ͅn̴̢̺̫͎̘͕̝͍͖͐̅̈́̀̎͒̈̀̑͝͝ͅi̸̦͈͌̽̽̂̒͝ņ̷̪̹̖͉̲̞͖̗̫͕̏̓̀̉̃̈́̃̌̂͛g̷͚̦̤̜͔͌̉̅̍̋͠͝ of some sorts about _something_.

 **A countdown** , my memory tells me, _but for what_?

"T̶̨͔̺̙̝̣̘̖̣̩͋̏́̂́̏͝h̸̻̝̺̠̀̋͝ę̵̢̨̦̺̖̖̠͚̣̮̖̟̓̋͑͑͛ ̷̨̦͚̺͎̻̩̗̭̜̙̠̹͚̰̩̔H̸̞͓̥͉̱̩͖̜̭͍̗͈̮̥͙̜͒̕͜ư̵̧̢̡̪̯̤̱̪̖̰̱͖̯͐͑̓̋̃͋̑͑̽̂͜͜ͅn̴͉̱̳͕͕͖̤̪͉̭̬̻̾̓͗̄̾̑̅̈́́̀̈́̒̚͝ẗ̴̨̯͔̞̪̼̰͍͙̫͙͇̟͎́̎͒ͅi̴̧̧̲̬̭͈̱͎͉̲̮̹̫̫̣͌̾̀̈̾̂̽͜n̶̡̨̛̯̦̤̼͉̞̋̌̔͒̔̇̊͝͠͠͝g̶̨̧̩͖̫̞̯̫͉̦̟̣̼̭͋̍̒͜ͅ ̴̢̛̺͖͎͓̘͉̙͈͈͖̯͒̐͋͛̕ͅS̸͓͆̅̄e̶̡̤̙̥̥͙͍̲̮̠͖̹͍̫̽̆̂͛͒̅̔̈́a̸̡̢̧̛̛͔̰̘͈̬̞͋̈̓̀̊̐̿̽s̵̼̲̰͇̱̤̞͚͎̥͈̔̈́ͅǫ̵̛̹͚̳̣̤͈̼̱͈͈͙̼̳̟͇̈́̓̍̉̓̓̆̑́̀̋̈́̕͝͝ṇ̸͍̆̈́̋͆͆̓̓̊͊͜͜ ̸̡̨̧̢̪̞͓̟̜͉̰̏w̴̨̥̟̞̗͚̱̝̫̯͓̮̘̿̉̂̏̏̕͜͜i̸̩͔͉͓͇̚ļ̴͙̘͚̱͓̰͚͚̫̻̍͂̽̔̒̂̀͐͗̽̂̋̓͋ļ̴̛̛̥̣͎̬̦̹̜̓͒̎ ̶̩͇͉̞̥̣̗̼̲̈́̌̈́̏͛b̶̬͖͎̆̍̒̈̓͘e̵͉̩͕̲̻̗̞̦̤̥̞̩͓͊g̷̢̧͚͍͖̳̠̘̰̟̪̩͚̹͚̿̌̊͠͝͝ͅi̶̛͎̮̮̥͙̰͉̞͖̇͂̌̑̿́̆͑̕͠ņ̷̧̛͕̲͉̰̟̦̝͇͙̗̙͙̿̈́̍̊̓̽̿̃̑ ̸̼͇͚͍͒̀͊̓̌͠i̶̢̨͈̬͔̤̒̾̏̔̽̈́͆̕̚͜͝͠n̴̡͓̺̖̜̑̌̈́̈́͆͠ ̷̥̖͖̭́.̵̡̬͇̩͉̹͙̯̝̫̳͉̯̞͙͗̋̀͛̂͒̾͑͋̂͜͝͝.̵̗̦̮͎̘̽͜ͅ.̶̺̼̤̹͇͐̒͊̇̈̓̏̂͜" 

The world is glitching, and the voice is becoming more and more creepy as it goes on, but I pay attention.

Will begin in?

How long do we have?!

I am suddenly pulled back into reality, and I frustratedly clench my fists. I grit my teeth in annoyance as I look down at Reborn, but the hitman is oddly quiet. 

Did the illusion get to him as well? The chances of that happening are high, because if I was the only one who saw that warning then by now he would have been asking me questions about why I was zoning out.

_Only those who are aware of the Hunting Season's existence will get the warning._

So does that mean he's protected an heir before?

Who?

The atmosphere is heavy, and so I take a deep breath to calm myself. Then I continue walking, with still him in my arms, pretending as if nothing happened.

"We better hurry up or they'll be asleep by the time we arrive." I mutter, deciding to run towards Tsuna's house.

"Can't you run faster, marmocchia?" He teases, finally not as serious. I scoff at him as I lift him up to my shoulder.

"Why am I always getting attacked, either physically or through words?" I shoot back, and he just chuckles. 

Finally reaching Tsuna's house, I ring the doorbell and we wait for a few seconds before the door bursts open.

"Hey, come in!" Tsuna cheerfully says, greeting us.

Something is wrong.

I stare at him as he smiles, gesturing in the house.

**DON'T ENTER.**

Reborn scowls, just as Leo transforms into a handgun and he aims—

then shoots Tsuna right at his forehead with his sun flames.

I gasp, just as the illusion shatters to the ground. I watch as Tsuna's house become distorted, and as my sky falls to the ground with not so much a thud.

No.

Not my sky.

Ţ̸͙̹̬̖͕̺̹̦̠̱͓̣͕̪̜̩̺̜͕̙͓̩̲͓̟̽̉͑͛̌̈́̈́͒͐͗̿̍̈̃̅̕͜͝͝͝ͅH̶͓̟̜̤̔̌͊̋͋̕ͅE̸̢̢̨̛̛̫̮͉͖̲͎̾͌̓̇̅̈́̓̉͑͆̔͋̅͆̈̌̊̉̕͘͜͝͠͝͠ ̶̨̛̛̛͈̀̈́͂̔̔̄̈̄̉̈͊̉̉̌̂̂̏̑̆͂͒͌͒̕͘͠Ḫ̵̋̉̿̎̐͗̆͆͗͑̾̕̚̚͠Û̶̡̢̨̡̨̪͚̤̹̞̝̰̞̻̦͎̘͇̥͍̺͕̈́̐̈͌̿̎̈́̃͊̽̑̿̍̄̎͆̾͘̕Ņ̶̡̢͍̗̟̯̤̯̳̗͙͉͎̥̱̭̥͔̝̌͌͐̓̈́̽̂̐̃͑̔̅̉͗̿̕ͅŤ̶̨͓̲̦̤̱̯̹͖̬̻̹̆͊̄̿̆͛̏͋ ̵̡̢̢̨̟̦̟̮͚͓̙̗͖̞̜͕͈̜̬̗̮̜̘͔͓̹̠̦̝̈̀̊͑̏̈̎̑͜͜͜͝ͅH̸̢̧͓̣̼̟̥̩̋̎̋͂̃́̿͌̽̌̐̀̈́̈̅̉̋͊̏͝͠Ą̷̛̛̰̔̈́̓̓̈́̓͒͊͆͌̏͋̐͗̀͒̿͋̂̏̽͒͘̕͘Ş̸͎̰̼̘̦̩͎̌͐̈́͊̊̉͗͗͗͌̏͠ ̸̝̟̜̮̳̤̲͖͈̗̝̦̗͔͕̇͆̄̑͋̋̎̒̎̀̈́̓̈́͐̓̈́͐̐̾̊̄̊̄̚͠͝͝B̸̧̳̰̞̭̞̯̺͉̻̺̖̬͎͔̭͉̬̟̮͒̌̔̓̽̈̎̅͌̈́̂͑̽͛̔̓͒͂̈́̕͝͝Ḙ̷̢̡̧̭̪̟̝̗͉̙̮͙̻͓̗͓̯̘̥͚̠̝͂̏̐̓͐̄͒͐͗̕͜͜ͅG̶̨̮͙̱̻͔̺̜̞̺̼̠̳̦͖̮̟̲̗̤̣̹̣͓̋͗̓͂͗̋͌͋̽͑̿̓̂͐̐̓̇̂̏͐̓̈́̍̽́͋̚͜͜͝͝͝͝͠ͅÅ̵̛͙͔͕̝͆͋̽̀̈́̀̓́́̂̎̆̈͘̚͝N̵̨̢̢̛̛̛̗͚̼̫̜̬̗̦͎̳̖͈̣̭̘͖͓̗̤̲͓̪̓̉̓̈́̍̂̅̿̑͑̒̾̓͗͌̊̔̎̽̋̕̕͝͝

There's a loud bell, indicating the start of the Hunting Season.

"I thought we had time!" I yell through the noise buzzing in my ears, running through the pitch black road. "Why were we only warned now?!"

"Either the hunt has been tampered with," Reborn replies, shooting at the area in front of us. His shot bursts into an explosion of sun flames, giving us light to see through the dark. "or they are playing us."

People with gray masks and black hoodies surround the two of us, and I summon my lightning flames.

"I guess it's safe to assume that Tsuna is their target?" I ask him, and a bullet passes through my cheek and onto the men in front. It explodes again into a bright golden yellow, and it's beautiful.

"They're adamant in distracting us, if their numbers are anything to go by." He nonchalantly says, as if this doesn't bother him. "But.. I have a deal with Timoteo,"

"You can't interfere?" I ask, just as another bullet explodes. "Looks to me you're already doing that, no?"

"No, not at all. Because I'm with _you_ right now, not with my student." I let my lightning flames hit a person to my left, and it hits almost everyone there. Almost. I sigh, frowning at how weak my flames are. My lightning is barely even as strong as an average lightning flame user, and even though I know that there's a reason for that, it still makes me mad that I can't use it as well as others can.

"So you mean to say that once we get to Tsuna, it's up to us?" I ask, pouring all my energy into a ball of Lightning flames. I then crush it horizontally, and the energy scatters powerfully around me and hits the enemies.

I fall, kneeling on the ground, the amount of energy I exerted at that one spell taking a toll on me. I shake my head in an attempt to clear my blurry sight, and I take deep breaths as I compose myself.

"You did well, although that took a lot of energy." He furrows his brows, and I smile half-heartedly.

"Yeah, my flames are too weak. Verde said they're only around 1/7th in power compared to his flames." I casually say, finally regaining a bit of my energy. I push myself up, and Reborn places a hand on my nape.

"Well, he's not one of _I Prescelti Sette_ for nothing, you know?" He says, and even though the word I Prescelti Sette doesn't make any sense to me (I know the meaning of the word, but I don't know what it _means_ ), I push away my curiosity and start running. "And also, yes. It's all up to you."

"But for someone like you, wouldn't hunting seasons be your favorite type of chaos?" I question, as I skirt through the town smoothly. I avoid the main roads, and instead stick to the narrow alleyways. My sight may be limited due to the darkness, but Reborn has turned Leo into a lamp so we can see, even if it's just a little.

"It is, but my job is to tutor Tsuna right now." He says, shrugging. 

"Right. But there's not much action for us this year, maybe? I mean, not everyone knows about the heir of the Vongola famiglia as Tsuna isn't from Timoteo's bloodline, right?"

"Oh trust me, they do." He says with certainty. "They're hiding in the shadows, waiting for the moment I'm not with him."

"..but you're not with him." I carefully point out. He just chuckles, and then taps on my shoulder. I stop running, and he jumps onto the ground. He gestures at the emergency ladder of the alley, and we both climb up.

I'm still confused, but I follow him anyway.

"I think you're forgetting something, Akane." He turns to me with a proud smile, just as sun flames fall from the sky and onto the road that, if I'm not mistaken, leads to Tsuna's house. "I'm not just any hitman, I'm the _greatest_. Plus, I'm one of I Prescelti Sette. And this? This is nothing to me."

I watch the golden lights falling like rain in awe. It glows, and gives us a little light. Although the darkness of Namimori is still there, it doesn't feel as scary anymore.

Reborn has something in him that will make you feel like everything's going to be okay. 

Unless you're his enemy, of course.

"Don't be too confident, though. The hunting season is far from over, and I will become a spectator once we meet up with the others."

"I know," I say, smiling happily. "I just can't help but feel secured whenever I realize that we have you."

He doesn't speak, nor does he spare me a glance. He focuses on his raining flames, and I do so too.

"Your flames are so powerful and pure," I comment, and he smirks.

The rainfall stops, and he finally faces me. "I showed them off to you for a reason. Now, let's go."

I roll my eyes, smiling fondly at the hitman. He once again jumps onto my shoulder, and we both head down. I run again, this time feeling much safer. I know this won't last long because the hunt is only starting and it'll be more dangerous the more the hunt drags on.

But even still, I won't be as afraid because we have one another's backs. 

**And we will protect our small family, no matter what the cost is.**

I promise.

Even if the sky falls.

And by that I mean the sky above us, not _my_ sky, of course. 

"What are you thinking?" Reborn asks, snapping me out of my thoughts. I jump over the wall with ease, before replying.

"The Family," 

I can't see him as I'm focused on reaching Tsuna, but I bet he tipped his fedora down at that. "I'm trusting Fuuta's ranking when he ranked you as number one to die for your chosen famiglia."

I smile as a response, then stop in my tracks.

"We're here," I say, observing. Namimori is eerily quiet, like they know something we don't. I've lived in Namimori all my life and yet this is the first time this happened.

Too dark. Too quiet.

Namimori is a cheerful and happy town, with warm colors washing over it. I see the colors yellow and orange, and it's calming.

Now it's only pitch black.

"I'm scared, honestly. Or creeped out, whichever is closer." I take a deep breath. "Okay, let's do this."

I actually don't move, but look at Reborn instead. "I can trust you to protect me if things go wrong while I'm concentrating, right?"

That takes him aback, but he nods anyway. I smile, shutting my eyes close.

I hold out my hand, reaching for the flames of illusion that's covering the town, finding the illusionary world surrounding Tsuna's house. It takes a while, but when I finally touch it I immediately take it in my hands and dispell its effects.

Subsequently, the illusion around Tsuna's house shatters.

"So your mist flames _are_ strong." Reborn says, but I shake my head.

"Still the same. 1/7 of the average output but.. you'll understand, soon. I know it."

Reborn jumps to the wall, then turns to me. "I will find out about it. But as of now, we have to hurry and ensure the safety of Tsuna."

I nod my head, jumping over the wall and onto the garden of the Sawada residence. I look at Reborn for instructions and he just lasers through the glass. 

"I'll ask someone to fix this later," He mutters nonchalantly, heading upstairs. I follow him, my lightning flames sparking on my hand. 

Once we were in front of Tsuns's room, he kicks the door open.

"Tenth, get behind me!"

Multiple explosives were thrown our way, and Reborn shoots one bullet to exhaust the fire on all of it before even one could reach us. "It's us,"

"Reborn-san!" Hayato greets, then looks at me. He scans me for injuries and sighs in relief when he finds none.

"Something is going on, but I don't know what." Tsuna tells us, eyes flashing orange for a moment there. He turns to face Takeshi, who is currently frowning.

"The monster broke my bat into pieces," He says, as he gestures to the scattered parts of what used to be his baseball bat. Out of nowhere, Reborn pulls another bat and hands it to Takeshi.

"Swing that at the speed of 300km/h if in danger, but you have to be careful." Reborn warns, and I raise a brow at him. 

Okay, but that was oddly specific.

"Woah, thank you!" He thanks, swinging the bat around lightly.

"Please don't tell me that a certain speed will activate—" I try, but Reborn cuts me off with a threatening smile.

"Activate his will to be a baseball champion, yes." Reborn is smiling at me, then turns Leon into a green mallet. He hits Tsuna's head, and then jumps to Takeshi's shoulder. "Now, my dame student, I'll be tutoring you through this hunt. We'll be improvising, and I need you to think and move fast."

"Huh?!" Tsuna says, "What hunt? What do you mean?"

"I'll break down the situation for you," I say, as I sit down on the floor. "There is what we call a hunting season that isn't even an annual event. It starts randomly. We get a warning beforehand that tells us when it will start but this year.."

"This year we received a warning that the Hunt will start soon, but with no other specific information. Then, a few moments later, they announced that the Hunt has started." Reborn continues for me, and I nod.

"What? That's so unfair!" Tsuna complains, and gets hit by Reborn's mallet.

"Woah, this game's so cool!" Takeshi exclaims, earning a glare from Hayato.

"So, what's this hunt all about?" Hayato asks seriously.

"Well, to start off, there's what we call Vindice. They are the protectors of mafia rules, and will capture those who disobey their law. But strangely, they initiate hunts randomly, for reasons no one really knows," I explain. "The rules are simple. Within the hunting season a famiglia can start a war against another famiglia, or they can kill the heirs and it wouldn't be against the law."

"To put simply, mafias don't have to obey the laws during the hunting season. The only rule is that no civilian must be involved or the Vindice will drag you to their prison." Reborn tips a fedora down, then turns to look at Tsuna.

"And Vongola is the strongest famiglia, so expect that most famiglias will fly from Italy to eliminate you."

Tsuna's jaw drops, just as his eyes widen—

and he faints.

"That was to be expected, of course." I sigh, frowning. The rest of them sit back down after carrying Tsuna to rest on the bed, and we stare at each other in silence.

"I'm going to contact Timoteo, stay here." Reborn says, jumping off the window without even giving us a chance to reply. We shrug, knowing that we can't really do anything about it.

But it was a wrong timing.

The worst timing possible.

It was a few moments later when Ryohei comes barging in through the door with Lambo in his hands and yellow ink on his clothes.

Everything is as they planned, but it's everything we weren't able to think of.

I only have three seconds.

One.

I watch as someone from behind Ryohei move, and I push myself up from the floor at once.

Two.

I stand up with great speed, stumbling over nothing as I reach out.

Three.

I push the two out of the way, and turn to face the assassin.

Four. 

He swings the sword with ease, and my eyes isn't even able to follow his speed.

But I saw it.

Like that bullet, the sword is covered with flames absorber.

Five.

There's blood on his weapon, dripping from the blade down to the ground.

..

And six.

He vanishes in just a blink, almost as if he was never there in the first place.

" _Akane—_ "

T̷̛̲̫͇̟̮̬̱͚̥͆̃̑͑̿̽̈́̅́̉̂̄̇͒̉͆̈̃̓̕͝͝͠͝͝ḩ̵̨̧̡̡͓̹̜̞̟̮̪̣̻͉̝͙̱̰̠̘̗̱̬͈͈̯̼͎̟̺̝̤̟̞̣͌̉̔͜͠ê̵̢̨̧̡̯̬̖̪̤͙̥̪̦̝͕͓̰̠̙̬̘͎̜̟͍̫̲̰̇͑̒̌́̂̓͒͐͒̔̿͐̈́͗̽̎̎͛̋̐̌̔̄̈̽̑̿̈́̌́̈́̈̚͜͜͠͝͝͠͝͝ͅ ̶̨̧̢̧̧̛̦̰͔̱̝̳̙̰͎͇̝͇̱̣̻̣̺̖̲͔̹͓̦̻̹͈͓̭̫̊̍͌̓̊̌͊͐͐͜͝͝ḣ̷̢̧̧̧̢͕̝̺͖̯̫͖̯̠̥̘͖͔̞͔̮̱̻͙̖̣̤͖͎̪̳̪͇̦͕̩͍̰̓̍̓̐͌͂̍̋̈͑̈́͋̿͌̍͊͗̊̔̎̊̍̚͘͘̕̚͘͠͠ư̷̧̢̡͉̩̬̱͇͎͕̘͖̹͇͚͍͚͇͚̙̫̼̣̟̗͈̾͐̈́͐̓͛͂̈́̿̔̅́̉͑̑͂͒́̂͒͗̐̈́̈́̔͘̕ͅͅn̷̨̢̧̡̢̛̛̛̖͚̣̱̘̼̺̖̲̞̦͈͎̝̝̝̮̺̜̹͇͚̮̣̤͔̟̥͗͌̅̅͊͛̽̐̾̃̏͌͒͆̾̐̄̇̂́̀̕͘͘͜͜͠t̵͕͓͙͍̠̲͋͑̓̌̀͛̔͑̈́͘͝͝͠͝͝ͅ'̷̧̡̨̛̫̦̼͓̜̖̦̖̰̩̗̖̻͈̾͛͑̾̊̍̃͋͂̆͛̉͊̂̍̆͂̃̽͑̄̏͑̒̒́̎̿̑͋̈́͘̚͝͝͝͝s̴̨̨̗̬̤̗̬̮͈̩͙̼̼̗̟̠͇̮̼͇͂͂̓̎̋͊̎̇̉͐͌̆̐͒̉͗̈́́̿̇̇̕͘̚͜͝͠͝ ̷̡͕͖̻̱͕̰͎̲̀̔̈́̂͌̆̑̉̆͑̽́̈́̏̓̊̃̐̆̍̉̊͝ͅͅṱ̶̺̽̓̿̏̈̏̈́͐̄̆̇͋̚͘̚͝a̸̡̢̡̛͉̜̦͈̼̲̫̞̗̭̪̩̯̲̻͍͙͖̩̩̹̲͇̰͙̠͎̽̉̈͒̏͛̿͛̌̈́̂̚͜͝͠r̴̬͍̮͓̉͆̃̽̒͑͛̅̉͗̑̂̾̽̍͑̉̌̿̄͐̚͝͝͝g̷̡̛̹̠̣͙̔͐͑͛͛̈́͗̈́̊͂̄͐̍̈́̅̍̿̋̀͠͠e̴̢̡̢̨̨͈̼͚̩̭͓͙̜̦̞͉̞̰̻̟̫̖̼̖̣̟̫̫̙͉̝̦̪͊͊̆̑̈̓͐̈́̆̏́͐͛̏͋̓́͒͝͝t̶̨̡̛̺͎̹̼͚̫̤̳̻̬̦̖̲̖̱̩̣͍̫̤̬̆͐̂͑͌̒͆͗́̽̓͆̑͑̍̿͐̈́̾̓͠͝͠͝͠͠ͅ—̶̢̧̨̧̨̭͚͎̯̼̥̠̠̯̩͇̜͍̪̬̜̝̗͓͎̲̬͎͎̩̫̫̭̬͓̲̥̪̥͉̿͊́͛̓͒͂̿̌̐͐̇̇̌̍̓̋̋́̾̅́̕͘͜͜͠͠ͅͅ

I take a deep breath as I sway dangerously, and I kneel on the ground. I look down and see a long diagonal cut across my stomach, but I can't feel it.

Red.

i̵̢̛̘̞͉̳͇̱̭̳̹̦͕͙̻̜̗̜͕͖̤̳̳͕̹̠͓̅̃̅̔͋̈͂̽̈́̾̑̇͂͗͗͋͛͛̊̚͘͝͠s̷̨̢̨̧̡̛̰̩̜̟̗̥͈͖͚̤͖̮̦͓̯̳͍͇̙̩͓̲͚̫̰͍̬̙̘̳̥̫͍̘̖̲̎͛̾̔̀̍̀́̍̃̀͑̃̈́̓̒̈̈͌͘̕͜͜͜ͅ ̴̧̧̨̨̡̙̠͉̼̘̫͚͍̤̳̖̮̩̳̯̲̻̹͔̫̰͓̽̔̾̈́̑͂̐̏̔̇̑̆̊̋͂͋̓̍̐̎̐̇̐͂͘̕̚͝͝y̸̧̧̝̩͔̺͔̫̫̞̲̮͉̻̗̩̬̰͇̟̭̐̇͂̔͑͋̏̓͊̎͋̆͛̂̿̒͂̄͂̈́̈́̈̂̑̚̕͘̚͜͝͠͝ͅȯ̵͈̘̍̈̍̿̈́̇͂̋̿̌̎̓̈́͆̍͌̔̿̍̉͂͌̓̈̑͐̉̔̓̕̚̕͘͘͠͠͝ư̸̧̡̧̧̨̺̹̳̮̰̥͙̩̱̻̯͍̦̠͎̟̳͚̬̼͕̰̯̗̦̪͉̙͔̫̤̘̋̄̆͂̅̿̑̈́́̃̒͝ͅͅ

As the blood drips down like water from the faucet, my sight blurs and I collapse.

Stay awake.

I feel my hands going cold, and I take deep breaths.

Hold on.

You have to protect them.

You _promised_ , right?

**Even if the skies fall.**

But I end up slipping away, because nothing ever goes the way you want it to.

Life..

has always been unfair.

* * *

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update! I've been working on a Haikyuu!! fic so,,, lmao

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry. I'll rewrite this soon.


End file.
